Canadian science fiction author Robert J Sawyer takes a positive look at a typical day in 2014 for Backbone Magazine, looking at where both scientific and sociological advances of the next decade will take us.
I thought this was a pretty cute article, but this guy really needs to consult an IT professional before making statements like these. For example:
Throughout the day, your wristband — a combination cellphone, PDA, camera, and e-book display, all controlled by spoken commands — will be your lifeline.
Uhhh wristband? E-book display? Are you kidding me? Do you know how freaking HUGE that device would be? There is no way you're going to get me to strap a palm to my wrist. The technology better be no bigger than a wristwatch and use a holographic display or something!
In a world in which any information can be easily accessed anywhere, mere memorization is no longer part of the curriculum. But analysis of information — knowing how to think — ah, that’s the ticket!
I kind of agree with this. I think remembering what you learned is an important thing. I also think that when you just snag info from the internet you run the risk of using something you don't truly understand. At the same time, no employer denies their employees access to manuals etc. to make them more efficient in their job.
Naturally, your electric car will drive itself, communicating with millions of chips that have been steamrollered into the asphalt covering our roadways. No more traffic accidents; no more gridlock.
Yeah right, I can't even drive on a state highway that is pot-hole free. Where is the govt going to get the money to embed chips into the highway? More feasible perhaps is some distance to object warnings (some cars now will beep when you're in reverse and getting close to a large object... something that would “watch” traffic around you and warn you if your proximity/speed was dangerously close.
Your cubicle will have a smart wall of its own, giving every worker the appearance of having a window; yours might show real-time footage of Lake Louise, assuming that global warming hasn’t melted the adjacent glaciers and flooded everything. And no matter which office chair you sit on, it will adjust automatically to your body’s proportions.
HAHAHAHAHA, greedy corporations giving their workers a beautifully distracting workspace. Right.
Of course, we’ll all live in an enhanced reality. Today’s bulky virtual-reality goggles will have been replaced by contact lenses that overlay textual information on your vision; the lens will be in constant communication with the computing powerhouse in your wristband. You’ll never be in the embarrassing situation of not remembering the name of an acquaintance you happen to run into; facial-recognition technology will identify the person, and provide you with all pertinent details instantaneously.
Someone's been watching Terminator movies too much. A wifi contact lens in my eye just doesn't sound all that comfortable or useful. However I could see something like this used in the military for covert ops.
Anyway, despite these few common sense/techie things it is always neat to see what people think is coming in the future. I just want my flying car. Damnit I've been promised a flying car in almost every “world of the future” exhibit I've seen. Stop working on the wristband and give me my damn flying car!