Think back to when you were growing up. How did you envision the future? Did you imagine driving a flying car, or beaming yourself up with a Star Trek-esque transporter device? Maybe coming home from your job on Mars to eat a nice meal cooked by your snarky robot housekeeper? Really think about it–how much of what you thought would happen in the future has actually happened?
Since I’ve been writing here, one thing I’ve started doing is reading other blogs. It’s a great way to get ideas and see what other folks are writing about, and there really is some interesting stuff out there. Earlier today I read this article, and it really got me thinking. How often have our visions of the future ended up being even remotely accurate? We don’t have flying cars or underwater cities, and I still don’t have the option of traveling to my scenic vacation home on Jupiter. Heck, our manned space flight program hasn’t even taken us farther than our own moon, which is no more than a short stroll down to the mailbox, in the grand cosmic scheme of things.
We’re 10 years into the 21st century, and as far as my childhood predictions go, I’m still batting .000. But the older I get and the more I think about it, I don’t think I’d want many of my predictions to come true. Flying cars? Yeah, it’s been done, but can you imagine if flying cars became the norm? I mean, have you seen the way people drive now, when they’re safely on solid ground, and only have two dimensions to worry about? Imagine rush hour traffic at 5000 feet. It would be chaos.
The fact that it took me 30 seconds of searching to find two separate incidents of planes trying to LAND ON TOP OF EACH OTHER is proof enough for me that the general public has no business in the sky.
But before you get all disappointed about the things that we don’t have, think about what we do have. As I’m typing this, my cell phone is sitting beside me. If I were so inclined, I could pick it up and make a phone call, send a text message, take a picture, watch a movie, browse the internet, make an online purchase, find my exact latitude and longitude, or read a book. None of that seems out of the ordinary to me–it’s just a cell phone. But if somebody had showed me that same device 10 years ago, I would have crapped my pants. When I was growing up in the early 90s, I never could have imagined things like HDTV, DVRs, smartphones, and the internet. Nowadays, we don’t bat an eyelash at these things… they’re just the norm (with the exception of DVR–that’s still the coolest thing in the world to me).
Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke once wrote “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” This is absolutely true. If you went back in time before cell phones were ever thought of and showed someone a modern-day smartphone, what else could they think? If you went back far enough, even something as simple as a remote control for a TV would seem like telekinesis.
It all just makes me wonder… what’s next for us? 10, 20, 30 years from now, what technology will we have that would seem like magic today? I hesitate to even make any predictions, since all my childhood predictions ended up being kind of ridiculous, but imagining what sort of gadgets we could have to play with in the future is always kind of exciting to me. So I’m curious what other people think. Where do you see us in a few decades? What exciting new technologies do you think the future holds for us?
Joe's Place 
I imagine a future that is tailored to convenience and expanding protection – specifically with respect to finances and identity. I forsee some sort of id chip (like they have for pets) that will be used for financial, medical, and other purposes. Yes, I can already hear the screams of the people afraid of ‘big brother’, but can you think of a better way to combat things such as identity theft? Imagine being able to walk into a store and automatically check out with the wave of a hand. This would help combat struggles faced every day with activities that shouldn’t happen (like underage teens buying alcohol or those convicted of a DUI from driving a car) . Again, I can hear the screams of the ‘big brother’ people. Think of it this way, you identity couldn’t be stolen because it would literally be a part of you.
I also think that we will become further desensitized by the idea of money – as I am beginning to notice in myself. What I mean is that money to me is mere numbers on a computer screen; I remember when I dealt in only cash, but now I use a credit card primarily and rarely carry any cash. I don’t expect many major breakthroughs like those shared in the latter half of the 20th century, but I do imagine that the future will be a developmental and improvement era (I reference Joe’s comments about cell phones and televisions improving and expanding capabilities).
I agree with you here. I know the ID chip has been a hot issue, but you’re right, it would all but eliminate identity theft, and make life pretty darn convenient. Then again, if you don’t trust the government 100%, I could see how you’d be skeptical of letting them “brand” you like that, if that’s how you think about it.
And that’s kind of what I’m expecting too – major improvements in TVs, cell phones, etc., like we’ve seen over the past few years, even if there aren’t any huge breakthroughs in brand new technology.
Nice post 😉 do you know Doraemon, a Japanese cartoon anime about a robot cat who came to his master, Nobi Nobita, in the past when Nobita was still a kid? In the anime there was lots of magical impossible gadget that we already ‘have’ now, for example, solar panel 😀 in the 1970s when the creator Fujiko Fujio started the series in his comic books. The one that I really like from Doraemon’s gadget which is still in our dreams is… ‘Door to Anywhere We Want’ as it’s still never been made possible in reality, the same as ‘Time Travel Machine’ where the characters could enter a door and ride a kind of flying car into any time or era they want 😀