As part of my Masters Curriculum I am learning the use of GIS or Geographic Information System. During a particular conversation with the Professor I realized that while most of the American Pedagogy uses this software, my experience or rather the experience of the collective Indian students would be very minimal with this technology.
It really got me into thinking how most software that architecture students use are either subscribed to by the University or they just use a "Crack" version. This, on the larger scale seems so unfair given most of what we do are software and visualization based.
In the words of Professor Juney Lee, "Democratizing Access to technology" seems to be one of the key elements that can drive productivity further. Especially to students, who, at the end of the day, are the future successors who will see a world that is more complex and in tune with technological advancements. AI usage is on the rise and Universities are trying their best to tackle and streamline the exploration of this new giant. What best way rather than first providing access to it? Does labeling a price on such software actually benefit the company or the society?
I strongly disagree because coming from the typical mindset of students who use old versions of softwares or free trials, I too have been a victim to this capitalistic agenda. Technology is driven by access and data is driven by technology. The very basis of the GIS software is the collection of data and output of Analytics, none of which will be useful to us unless it is accessible.
Plug-ins, extensions, features, updates are all small but very impactful elements that control the usage of a software, monetizing this only makes it that much less usable. This ideology has not been advocated much and I believe as users of this force it is essential to be voiced out and brought to light. We are so used to the "normal" routine of using expired softwares just because our seniors told so. If an Urban Design NPO is given the power to access free technology the kind of change they bring to the field will be so much more efficient, than when they have to account for the money going into this as a budget.
Technology must change from being a "First World Country" product to just another commodity if it is to be made true to it's purpose. Most people or offices only even realize the existence of certain software after it's made available free of cost. Here is to hoping we all come to our senses before we are made to pay for using the Calculator on our desktop!
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