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David Pogue speaking at Utah Valley University on Thursday, March 3, 2022.

Courtesy Utah Valley University

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David Pogue playing the piano at Utah Valley University on Thursday, March 3, 2022.

Courtesy Utah Valley University

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David Pogue, an author and public speaker, gave a lecture on the state of modern technology and its future Thursday as part of the UVU Presidential Lecture Series.

Pogue’s presentation, entitled “Disruptive Tech Coming You Way Within 5 Years,” focused the impact that the “Internet of Things” and its subsequent inventions could have on society.

The Internet of Things encompasses physical objects that are embedded with sensors, software and processing ability that are able to exchange data with other systems and devices via communications networks. Pogue used smartphones and smartwatches, self-driving cars and smart thermostats as examples of the Internet of Things.

Pogue discussed how objects that utilize the Internet of Things can track and benefit your health, like how smartwatches can track your blood pressure, stress levels, sleep quality and steps.

“If you put all this data together, these things can give you early warning about serious medical problems that you might be having,” Pogue said.

He listed atrial fibrillation, where the heart’s upper chambers beat out of coordination with the lower chambers, as a condition that a smartwatch could help identify in users.

“The problem with that is if you feel sick or weak or out of breath all the time you can go to your doctor and your doctor is like ‘hmm, maybe you have a-fib let’s test you for it,'” Pogue said. “And if it’s not quivering at that moment he’s like ‘no it’s not vibrating, don’t know what it is,’ but you’re wearing this thing [smartwatch] all the time.”

Moving from the body to the roads, Pogue added that he believes once society becomes more willing to accept self-driving cars, they could provide a multitude of benefits — including the elimination of car insurance, driver’s education classes and driver’s licenses, as well as reducing car accidents and fatalities.

“The arguments for self-driving are pretty obvious, the big one is safety,” Pogue said. “One-point-three million people a year die in cars.”

Pogue believes that combining the Uber business model with self-driving cars could be both revolutionary and a reality in the near future.

“If we marry the Uber concept with self-driving cars, what you get is a self-driving taxi… this is the future,” Pogue said.

Pogue stated that he believes that the skepticism surrounding technologies like smartwatches, self-driving cars, and even vaccines, is due to the changes in technology people have had to adjust to throughout their lives. Namely, modern technology bears little resemblance to its counterparts in the past.

“It’s because they’re unfamiliar, they’re new things,” Pogue said. “I know a lot of this stuff sounds crazy and alien to you … but it is coming, it is the status quo, I don’t know exactly when it’s coming but I promise you it will be a wild ride.”

Pogue is well known for his expertise in the world of science and technology. He is a New York Times bestselling author having written and co-written over 120 books on various subjects such as climate change, financial wellness, and Apple products. The lecture took place at the UVU Orem Campus Keller Building.

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