A look into the future --- from 1900

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Thanks. The problem with forecasting are several. Some of them are:

1. People who make forecasts may not be subject matter experts (SME) in that forecast item.

2. Those SMEs who make the forecast may not know new discoveries 30 years down the road that results in new stuff.

3. Most importantly, even if you have the technology, money is needed to bring that to market. That is why, with all the present technology available to the Africans, they can not seem to put it together.

So, it is a crap shoot....

I have a brochure by HP produced in 1977 which shows a professor holding a PDA going to a meeting. We have that now called HP iPAQ. But what they do not have is the artificial intelligence behind that PDA....and the sensors embedded in the buildings to connect to the PDA...can it be done...yes...

 

and so are the authors Jules Gabriel Verne, H.G. Wells and Arthur C. Clark....

 

Check out the novel by Edward Bellamy: Looking Backward, 2000 to 1887. It was not such a good batch of predictions.

Some of the things that some people foresee just make you slap your forehead. Bellamy predicted that we would go into restaurants and eat "pre-masticated food" (the very words make me gag!) slowly extruded by tubes into our mouths, which we take in and swallow. The tubes would be washed out between courses. He didn't understand something which is now basic food science: the important role that chewing plays in the release of pheromones that trigger our sense of smell, which is about 90% of what "taste" is.

 

Some upcoming military technologies....

Daniel Burrus, of Hartland, Wis.-based Burrus Research, said one of the key military technologies to make the jump to civilian use will be unmanned aviation. Autopilot systems have been used for years to fly commercial aircraft between airports. Landing and taking off in many military aircraft are now automated.

Would the general public want to fly in a jet with no pilot on board? No, he said. At least one pilot would have to be present to oversee the operation. Ultimately, automation would make for safer aircraft and eliminate human errors, he said.

Robots will see the convergence of information technology, computing and nanotechnology.

The military’s need to reduce casualties is driving the research and development into robotics and autonomy. It’s accepted that Japan is ahead of the United States in robotics, but both Canton and Burrus said the two nations have different goals. Japan needs to solve a labor shortage, while the U.S. is looking toward security.

Wide-area networking, sometimes called Wi-Fi on steroids, is where every computer or handheld has a 50-terabyte capability, and each device is a fully mobile and secure Internet node itself, Canton said. There are huge implications for e-commerce, he added.

Future warrior concepts envision soldiers who are wearing computers.

“Some might ask, ‘Who would want to wear a PC?’” Burrus said. “Someone who needs access to information while they’re standing up and doing something.”

Warehouse workers, those on the road or people doing things that require them to be paying attention while being mobile, will wear these systems.“The future warrior system is going to spill over to the future salesman or the future warehouse worker,” Burrus said.

“We’re on the edge of a material science revolution,” added Canton. It will be a convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology, and the military will employ these new fabrics and suits first. Consumers will want them next, though. A shirt that can detect poor air or bio-hazards might cost another $20, he said.

Cheaper micro-processors and small radios can combine to make “intelligent” tires. A sensor attached to a military truck or aircraft’s tires or an engine part can inform a computer when it needs repair. A part can be ordered autonomously through an advanced logistics system, and a technician can be dispatched to replace it just before it wears out, Burrus said. This technology can be applied to bridges, roads, engines, anything that suffers from wear and tear.

 

And you did not get the word "and"....

 

Even Taco Bell makes food you can chew, so you can unlock the rich flavors and textures.

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As long as there is MSG - no flavor is poor

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As long as there is Africa to compare, there is no poor culture and it is racism to talk about it. Since you can not talk about it, they go nowhere!

 

I don't know about you but we talk about "poor flavor" all the time. In fact Taco Bell springs to mind immediately.

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"Poor culture"... yeah you don't hear that one very often. But we do talk about "impoverished cultures," ones with a relatively small catalog of motifs.