13 March 2006

Stuff Our Kids Will Laugh About

I'm not big on making predictions about The Future - I have a hard enough time predicting the present. However, I do occasionally pull out the old crystal ball, and today I'm offering my short list of things our kids will laugh at us about.

Our kids will laugh at us for using passwords. In the future, they'll use retina scans, voice recognition, finger prints and/or RFID chips embedded in their brains. Passwords? No way.

Our kids will laugh at us for "dialing up" the internet... or for connecting to the internet (or metaweb or whatever they call it) using any sort of wire at all. In the future, their connections will all be wireless, broadband x 1000 (and quite secure, thank you very much). Wires? No way.
Our kids will laugh at us for our enormous laptop computers (and don't even get them started on the desktop machines). In the future, you'll have access to all the computing power you need via your wristwatch and sunglasses, as you surf the web, hold video conferences and create documents while sitting in a cabin in the woods. Computers measured in pounds and feet? No way.


Our kids will laugh at us for losing data. Sure, computers will still have bugs, viruses and crashes in the future, but your data will be securely backed up automatically, with no effort on your part. Buring all your important files to a backup CD? No way.

Our kids will laugh at us for using iPods. Sure, they're hot now, but in the future... well, I can't imagine what will be the iPod killer in the future (could anyone have predicted the iPod at the height of the cassette-playing Walkman?). Carrying around a $400 device to play music? No way.

Our kids will laugh at us for relying so much on text. In the future, audio / video / multi-media will be king. People will still read books, and some might still read newspapers made of paper, but most of our information will come in non-text forms. Typing? No way.

Our kids will laugh at our cell phones. In the future, your videophone sunglasses (see laptop entry above) will work great. There will be no worries about spotty coverage, dropped calls, poor voice quality or complicated calling plans (ok, the complicated calling plans are probably here to stay). Handsets? No way.

Our kids will laugh at us for relying on batteries. In the future, new power supplies will lead to innovative distribution methods, including ubiquitous wireless power supplies. I sure hope this one comes true. It'll probably be our grandkids, not our kids, but a guy can dream, can't he? Batteries? I hope not...

Got anything to add?

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