Hrm... what do I think about 2020?

Well, here we go...

I think that in 2020 we will have more integration with our computers, smaller, faster, cheaper being the watch word. We will not be smart enough to solve the world hunger problems, yet we'll have a wearable 5Ghz processor with 4Gbytes of RAM and an "always on" high speed connection via cellular EDGE networks.

Forget talking on the cell phone while driving, as your hybrid car, running on a basic combustion engine, still running a fossil fuel, is sending massive amounts of data about your trip, it's efficiency, your speed, location, and any additional communications that you need, over a cellular EDGE connection to the internet. You can call, video call, and take photos, while you drive, thanks to the myriad of small, cheap CCD camera elements placed strategically around your car, inside and out.

With comfort and safety being the watchword, these small CCD elements will enable your on-board computer to warn you if you become too close to the car in front, change lanes into another vehicle or obstacle, or begin to move off the road...

As well, an Opensource version of On-Star(tm) functionality enables you to automatically call the police, fire, or emergency services, with the push of a button on the dash, steering wheel, remote control or whatever other convenient programmable interface you desire.

However, little else will have changed. Politicians will still be the most hated and most revered morons to inhabit our planet. They continue to wage "police actions" and "combat initiatives" while keeping us all out of a new "world war". These actions will be for new and better ways to keep our technilogical world afloat, and to "preserve our freedom" to spend and spend until we are dead.

The divide between the rich and the poor will continue to grow, while the poor may somehow figure out how to use the cast off technology of the "new" rich. This will bring some interesting new challenges, as the "poor" will become the newest breed of "hackers", that have a real need for information and control.

While in 2020, I will be 65, and retired (I hope), this vision of the future is disheartening... we'll be no "better" off as a country, society, or world... it will be the same as it has been since the late 90's... with no major breakthroughs to the betterment of humanity.

Sad... but I fear it true....

Just my 2¢, YMMV.

dc0de.

janelane wrote:
In my "Engineering Design" class, we have to figure out what the world of 2020 will be like. Specifically, we are figuring out design processes for globally distributed design and marketing environments. I am curious what you all think of how 2020 will turn out, and the professor encourages us to ask people with opinions varying from our own. I can think of no greater variety than the Memestreams readership. What do you think? What issues (either same or different) are we likely to face? What will drive the above environments?

Some of the ones I have so far include:
communication
information availability
geographic location
government structure
language
outsourcing

I am interested to know what you have to say.

-janelane, obliged

RE: The Year 2020