Living In The Age of The Jetsons — how far technology can take us in the next 20–50 years
When Google acquired Nest Labs in a subtle, but deliberate three and a half billion dollar takeover, the tech industry cringed. It was unexpected and quite unprecedented -what was so important about home automation and a self-learning, programmable, sensor-driven, WI-FI enabled thermostat, or a home security camera that could make out faces? The tech world seemed to besaying, “there’s no thrill in that… give us hoverboards instead”
Their child-like remarks ravaged the internet, and social media has been in a frenzy.
It quite reminds me of Google’s autonomous driving car project. It’s currently ongoing, having received State approval to test a few of these driverless automobiles on California roads; and the results are splendid.
Not often, but sometimes, a company sends a strong message to its consumers that seeks to say, “we aren’t all about money, the future kinda matters to us too”.
I have a hunch that this project will revolutionize public commuting. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and dare suggest that your next taxi driver may have no arms, legs, no face; he’ll be a talking, self driving car.
Forgive me now, I digress.
The last time I felt so sure about this wave of clear advances in technology was at the Blankson house, downtown Dansoman, south of my city; Accra. Mr. Blankson had received an unusual paycheck, and his living area was glad to have the city’s first colour TV. Kwame, his son, was my best friend, and let me in every weekday to watch ‘cartoons’. The Jetsons were my favourite.
While, I could barely understand what very little articulation these 2D character made, my eyes remained fastened, almost trancelike to the screen.
There was a talking robot lady, flying cars, and a floating TV-telephone that followed them everywhere. To my young mind, this was present day America!
Today, though, the story isn’t so pretty. There are still no robot maids. The unsightly, fidgety and outrightly poorly designed robots found in testing labs will need to be drastically modified before they are remotely comparable to ‘robomaid’ -I forget her name.
Even the most sophisticated of Google’s dog, jumping spider, and reindeer test robots are both unsightly and unweilding. Luckily, many companies are successfully making gains, from the comical Japanese pet-dog robots, to more advanced AI integrated frontdesk helps.
So what does this mean for the future, say, 30 years from now?
Smartphones and mobile devices, in general have made the most gains. Here’s a scenario. My career compels me to integrate as much tech into my everyday life as I can, but nothing in this age is so out of the ordinary that would require any other tech aside my smartphone. For some of you who have been using smartphones for 10 years or more, you’ll admit, if you’ll be true to yourselves that there hasn’t been much gains in tech asides these devices. Even yet still, their lofty elevation soon comes crashing back into reality so awfully quickly when say, voice commands fail or you lose internet connectivity.
Admittedly, when all these various advancements will work together properly, we could paint a picture of the futuristic life that we may soon be living in 30 years. Not so optimistic? Well, it’s worth taking stock of just how quickly things have changed, mobile-wise, in such a short expanse of time.
Below, I will try to paint a picture of the tomorrow to look forward to. This being solely speculative based on current research and prototype products. Put it all together and say your average day may look something like:
- 5:30am
You are awoken by a mild ripple in your bed, as a subtle voice calls your name overhead. Your fully functional AI home assistant, Alexis. You whisper, without lifting your head, “Snooze please”. the ripples cease. Alexis is quiet.
- 5:59am
Finally you may have dragged yourself out of bed now. Not fully awake, you say, “Alexis, put on the bedroom lights”. In a second, your dimmed lights begin to adjust to your every move. Becoming brighter as you begin to move more. Your room is moderately cool, since your automatic thermostat has learnt the outside temperature and kicked in the air conditioner.
- 6:30am
Showered, dressed and pressed, you tuck your smartphone (now, a pocket computer) into your pocket, your smartwatch on your wrist and make for the kitchen.
- 6:50am
Your watch senses your movement, having already studied your activity patterns, and tells you to start your car. You punch a button on the keyring, from inside your house, and the car roars outside.
- 7:05am
Now you step into the backseat of your car and immediately your smartphone-cum-computer is connected to the car. You tap a button, letting out a command to turn to your favourite podcast, and your driver-car pulls out unto the road.
- 7:20am
You’re a few metres away from work, and an overhead display in the car brings you up to speed on the news of the day, your emails and a few articles, which you may decide to read, or have read to you by your car. Internet access is everywhere, and thus you require no need to have saved content, hence you carry no laptop.
- 1:00pm
It’s lunchtime and you walk up to your favorite lunch place a few metres from the tech startup where you work. As you enter, you phone beeps; you receive an invoice. Your meal is served before you sit, since your phone sent out your usual order at the exact time. You pay by swiping your phone over your food. The plate reads your data and accepts payment.
- 9.00pm
You’re back home. Alexis welcomes you, and tells you your pasta is warming in the microwave. She tells you your co-founder is calling. You turn to the tv, and video-convo with her as you down your pasta. She beams to your phone the changes she’s made to the prototype.
- 10:30pm
You toss your phone and smartwatch unto your bedside desk… they immediately begin charging. You remind Alexis to wake you up at 5:00am, she dims the light and hums your favorite lullaby.
Regardless of how we see the above sketch, the modernisation of the world is an unrepentant force. It’s bound to happen, and it isn’t going to go away. We may not soon be commuting via flying space cars, nor carry antennas on our heads like the Jetsons, but it will be a fleeting victory to have driverless cars circulating our roads, and remote controlled ‘everything’ within the press of a button and a voice command -and that I look forward to in the next 20 to 50 years.
Sidebar: Pulled out this piece from my hard drive today. I wrote it some 6 years ago, yet it’s uncanny resemblance to some episodes of Black Mirror amuse me. Daresay I was ahead of my time. :D
