The Future...

[ughaibu]

"Necessity is the mother of invention": Home - Totally Absurd Inventions & Patents, America's Goofiest Patents

[Boerseun]

I think we're in for a long period of integrating current technology to the point where a lot of current every-day items will disappear.

For instance, a wristwatch that also includes a GSM circuit (bye-bye cellphone), a GPRS circuit, heart monitors (exercise watches already has these) and a kahoona-sized memory capacity with bluetooth (there goes your flashdisk out the window) and headphones (bye-bye mp3 player). All in one device. So, you end up with one "must-have" gadget (the watch), but you eliminate quite a lot of other bulky items that you normally carry around. Whilst not really a fundamental change, I think pretty soon everybody will have one and take it for granted. I mean, who'd want to carry all that other stuff around, when you can simply strap this nifty tool to your wrist?

But this integration idea can be taken further, too. You'll end up with kettle/toaster combos, as a (possibly ridiculous) example. Everything will be online and be controlled from your nifty funky ubercool wristwatch, which also has a laser-projected keyboard!

Haha...

Yep - I think that's gonna be the future for the next two decades or so.

...but then again, that's only me.

[hallenrm]

In my opinion, real breakthroughs in science will be result of crisis we face today.

i have a few in my mind, they are:

1. The water crisis
2. The transportation/energy crisis
3. The bandwidth crisis

While many of us are facing or are likely to face the first two in the near future, the third one may take a bit more time to become apparent.

What I am hinting at, that with the increasing numbers, of people and vehicles, soon it is going to be really difficult to move from one place to another. The immediate solution may be air borne vehicles, but they will consume much more energy; leading to energy crisis. This may lead to tele coomuting more popular, whence people will interact with one another with much more powerful telecom connexions, that will require bandwidth much more than we can imagine.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by hallenrm

In my opinion, real breakthroughs in science will be result of crisis we face today.

i have a few in my mind, they are:

1. The water crisis
2. The transportation/energy crisis
3. The bandwidth crisis

While many of us are facing or are likely to face the first two in the near future, the third one may take a bit more time to become apparent.

What I am hinting at, that with the increasing numbers, of people and vehicles, soon it is going to be really difficult to move from one place to another. The immediate solution may be air borne vehicles, but they will consume much more energy; leading to energy crisis. This may lead to tele coomuting more popular, whence people will interact with one another with much more powerful telecom connexions, that will require bandwidth much more than we can imagine.

Not a bad list Charlie! I observe that all are predicated on allowing the population to continue growing. If we are to enjoy our future innovations (gills, bulbous eyes, hoofs, and all), we must control the population. I think this is the paramount 'need' for the future, and the least likely scenario to actually happen by purposeful human intervention.

[InfiniteNow]

Originally Posted by Turtle

If we are to enjoy our future innovations (gills, bulbous eyes, hoofs, and all), we must control the population. I think this is the paramount 'need' for the future, and the least likely scenario to actually happen by purposeful human intervention.

Indeed. It doesn't *behoove* () people to choose to eliminate life, so it will likely happen naturally. Whether it be disease, war, starvation, dehydration, whatever... It will need to be taken care of in another context, because artificially selecting humans won't be something which everyone rushes to do or agree upon.

"Sorry Mrs. Smith, we're going to abort your baby because you conceived on a Tuesday, and your street address ends in an even number. However, you can water you lawn every other Wednesday!"


Straight from the horse's mouth.

[HydrogenBond]

What necessity offers is the pressing need for tangible results that work to lower the threat or the necessity. This often pushes one to the limits of spped and ingenuity, since doing nothing can be disasterous. Take away the threat than the incentive to invent is reduce to desire or money. This also leads to invention but often requires supply side marketing to make people want it, making it harder to justify spin-off unless the marketeers get a good game going.

For example, if the air got so poluted that people began to fall like flies, their would be a grave neccesity to make gas masks in the short term, until long term solutions appeared. One does not have to convince people of the merit of this necessity invention, it is self evidence, with demand side driving the necessity to invent.

If the air is clean and someone decide to invent the same mask to make people prepared for the day the air was so bad people fell like flies, they would have to market doom and gloom to push this invention. The result is a need for supply side marketing to con people to buy the something that they really don't even need. This smaller demand may not require spin-offs, unless the marketeers are really good. With necessity, every incremental improvement will find a thankful person.

Necessity is demand side invention, while desire and money is supply side. With supply side invention, even a good invention one has to market their invention. This is the same place where pet rocks and bling inventions also enter the arena. The result is that good inventions, often get shelfed because it is easier to sell garbage to junk collectors. If there is a neccessity, the garbage is pushed aside, and the good inventions come quickly to the forefront.

[hallenrm]

Originally Posted by Turtle

Not a bad list Charlie! I observe that all are predicated on allowing the population to continue growing. If we are to enjoy our future innovations (gills, bulbous eyes, hoofs, and all), we must control the population. I think this is the paramount 'need' for the future, and the least likely scenario to actually happen by purposeful human intervention.

Its not population alone that is of concern, its also the rising aspirations of the populations. There was a time when a vast majority lived happily very prudently. Not so, today and tomorrow! Thanks to the mass media many more people are tempted towards consumer goods. Goods that require more water (to clean), more energy (to run) and ofcourse bandwidth.

Controlling populations therefore will not help in averting the crisis. What would be required is an enlightenment, that consuming more does not neccessarily lead to more happiness in life

[Jay-qu]

Its amazing how fast all this moves!

I remember when I was younger my dad told me "One day all houses will be built and already have the wiring for the internet in every room"

He couldnt comprehend that one day wires wouldnt even be needed and you could surf the net where-ever you so chose.

And that is just in my life!

[smartypant]

It's not only pollution and population but also that when you are going to make inventions to prevent those things it's not like oldern days when you could just take things and say"Don't worry Ma I'm only using it to make a mind-blowing invention!". We are going to kill everything on the face of planet Earth and everything will fail. And I'm only explaining what will happen in about 30 years tops at the rate we're going.

[wine]

The future !

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