Tech Speculation
I am a big fan of 70’s/80’s sci-fi, nowadays some of those books are no longer sci-fi but historical romances.
The 365 Days of Writing Prompts challenge of today is: The next big thing: What will the next must-have technological innovation be? Jetpacks? Hoverboards? Wind-powered calculators?
It is an easy job not to make predictions nowadays, as everything changes so quickly. However, at least, there are several tech-toys that I don’t believe that will be part of our daily life as the computers or smartphones are.
The first one is the smart-home virtual-assistants like Alexa and Echo. I don’t think they will be the next “must-have” tech just because even before smartphones exists, some mobile phones already had several features that could be done by voice commands (e.g., call someone). Nevertheless, it was never a common practice — because using a mobile is already simple and easy. Some people used it, but no one feels the need for it. Today’s Google assistant (I own an Android) is already impressive, we say “ok google,” and we can do much stuff without touching the phone. I think this may be useful when we are driving. However, in my opinion, there is no real need for home-assistants for most of the users. However, I hope that this type of tool can be used to improve the life of elder people that live alone, need help, company, someone remind them to take meds, to turn off the oven, etc.
The smartwatch, although it has been here for some time, I think it never achieved the expected usage. There are many people with them, but it is not a “must have.” First of all, companies think that everyone is willing to pay for something that is “right there,” “you don’t need to take your mobile from the pocket to see the emails” — if we stop to think about the premise… it is ridiculous. First, it is hard to think about the distance between the wrist and the pocket as something challenging. Second, most of the smartwatches allow us to read messages but not to answer them. Therefore, you have to take the phone out anyway. I believe that there are specific functions that can be very useful with a smartwatch but it is not there yet… or neither will be.
Virtual Reality (VR) is the most promising tech since the old days of sci-fi. We are familiarized with VR much before the first prototypes. I was very pessimistic about VR, not in the sense of potential usage but the need for it. Although it can do incredible stuff, we must not forget that the physical world always restricts us. Therefore, instead of VR, I bet on Augmented Reality (AR). It will have the outstanding features of VR without its limitations. I can see, as already existent examples, exciting applications of AR that can be used in our daily lives.
I am a big fan of 70’s/80’s sci-fi, nowadays some of those books are no longer sci-fi but historical romances. So no one knows exactly what is impossible. What I know is that is hard to make predictions or desire a technology for the future. The next significant advances will be on nano-tech and biotech, using tech to improve our health and life quality. As at the beginning of humanity we are looking for the holy grail, the eternal life, maybe we are closer.
May 24 | 365 Days of Writing Prompts | The next big thing: What will the next must-have technological innovation be? Jetpacks? Hoverboards? Wind-powered calculators?
