Where will the future of technology take us?

[ian]

Following on from accelerator's thread about pay services, I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread where we can openly discuss where we feel the future of technology will take us.

Many of us will have wondered if gadgets and services from sci-fi films of the past would come true, and in some instances, they have. 20 years ago (just about!) we wouldn't have envisages carrying around a device powerful enough to operate as a PC, with access to anything, anywhere, capable of taking pictures, booking tickets, paying for groceries etc.

What else might we look forward to in say the next 20 years. Do you see technology being transferred into watches? What about microchip implants for payment or communication? Is 4k and 8k really the future of television and can we finally say goodbye to god awful 3D. Curved televisions the future for all? Flexible/transparent phones? Custom advertising on walls of the underground. Iris scans and finger print recognition for most purchases and access points?

It's great to look forward, especially in this sector (will domains still exist in the same context?), and many of us are entrepreneurial looking for the 'next big thing'.

We have had a huge spike in technology shift in recent years, but I think things have slowed a little, though fabrication/development of materials continues, opening up a whole new world of possibility.

 

[DaveP]

I would have to say for sure biometric technology will be more commonplace in the future. I'm sure soon we will see a time where the majority won't need a password to sign into websites or apps..

 

[WalkinDude]

A massive issue is energy and the cost of it. For the foreseeable high energy innovation [flying cars etc] are going nowhere. Low energy consumption tech smartphones, smart wear, energy consumption management technology, smart grids and all the rest of it will continue to get hyped to high heaven. The one thing Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and the rest of the gang of Galactic Brands all have in common is their tech reaches enormous amounts of people for rather low energy requirements per customer.

I'd like to think the World's first Trillionaire will be the person who figures out a way to make households energy independent.

 

[atlas]

A massive issue is energy and the cost of it.

I'm not so sure.

Lots of oil discovered in Russia:

Russia’s state-run OAO Rosneft said a well drilled in the Kara Sea region of the Arctic Ocean with Exxon Mobil Corp. struck oil, showing the region has the potential to become one of the world’s most important crude-producing areas.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-27/rosneft-says-exxon-arctic-well-strikes-oil.html

US Poised to Become World’s Leading Liquid Petroleum Producer

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/98104974-47e4-11e4-be7b-00144feab7de.html

The US is overtaking Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest producer of liquid petroleum, in a sign of how its booming oil production has reshaped the energy sector.

Despite all the war in the middle east, oil prices are sliding:

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0d74af62-457d-11e4-9b71-00144feabdc0.html

Iran’s oil minister called on Opec nations to work together to prevent a further slide in crude prices, highlighting the split among members of the cartel over how to react to the sharp drop in oil to two-year lows in recent weeks.

Certainly, it will be many years before there are energy problems (if ever).

 

[accelerator]

As I said in another thread, the quite near future has some very exciting technologies coming up. Here's a video of scientist, inventor, futurist and very clever guy Ray Kurzweil speaking about the future in 2009. Lots of insights as to what we can expect.

Rgds

 

[scooter]

That's a great video and a real insight in to the near future. I thought I would watch for 5 mins. I was hooked and watched the lot.

.

 

[Retired_Member39]

After some trial and errors with a notepad and Dynadot i reg'd WearTK.com recently, i remember reading about wearable technology somewhere so thought this might be worth a punt for £1.50. I tried a number of alternatives wear-tech.com etc.

 

[devilsrefugee]

Drone technology is now a reality and growing. Companies are embracing it (Google, Amazon etc) and the Dubai govt. have started using them to deliver important time critical documents. 6 production companies in America now have licences from the FAA to use drones for filming purposes.

 

[accelerator]

That's a great video and a real insight in to the near future. I thought I would watch for 5 mins. I was hooked and watched the lot.

Yes, it's good isn't it.

 

[accelerator]

After some trial and errors with a notepad and Dynadot i reg'd WearTK.com recently, i remember reading about wearable technology somewhere so thought this might be worth a punt for £1.50. I tried a number of alternatives wear-tech.com etc.

If referring to WearTech, then WearTK.com doesn't quite work for me, but I see where you're coming from.

The strong domains are already regged and are:
WearTech.com
WearTech.co

Rgds

 

[Edwin]

http://www.futuretimeline.net/index.htm#timeline

 

[Aegean]

http://www.futuretimeline.net/index.htm#timeline

Good site, my calculations tell me I'll probably croak just when things really start to get bad. thank god!

ps: I still haven't got that bloody hoverboard we talked about all those years ago.

On a more serious note, the big push in the next 2-3 years is going to be for one identity on the web. just one for each person. Quite a lot of the big players are backing the idea.