I just got back from vacation and have been very busy so this post may be quite a bit shorter than my recent posts have been. With this topic, I have needed to give it more thought than I have had to with our previous posts. I have thought about a few different things that I believe will become the future and come about in real life in 50 years when I am a lot older [about 65 years old... ouch].
I think that one major change that will really live its dream and come true within the next 50 years is much more of life being controlled by robots and computers. I am not sure what necessarily will be controlled by computers and robots, but it could end up causing some major problems for people finding jobs. Already, many people's jobs have been replaced by a robot, one industry being the car makers. Almost all jobs within car factories used to be operated by a person. Now, many of these roles are fulfilled by a robot, that does the same exact thing, with much better precision and quicker than a human can do the same job. A robot is also able to work around the clock and doesn't need any lunch breaks.
My second prediction for 50 years from now is that at least in the US, all major cities will have wireless internet, everywhere. With wireless internet, I mean high-speed upload and download speeds like what you may experience in your home. 3G and now 4G is quite fast, although it could be much quicker and more stable. With these internet speeds, things will also change within your home. I that an average download and upload speed will be somewhere around one gigabit per second. One gigabit internet speeds would be more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.
You probably can guess what company I am going to bring up next that goes along with the end of my last paragraph.
Google. Google announced on February 10, 2010 their own fiber optic project. They are planning to build and test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. When Google starts building this ultra-high speed network in these locations, it will be amazing to see what new things it brings for these cities.
The one problem with Google implementing these speeds that are unlike anything else found in the United States is that no web server will be able to keep up with the internet speed coming in. This is because the speed that you download a site is only as fast as the internet speed of the web server that you are accessing or viewing. This will however eventually change.
My last prediction for the year 2060 is that driving a car will be much more simplified with the help of a computer inside the car. I think that cars will be able to eventually communicate with the cars around them. This will be able to prevent accidents because it will keep cars away from others. There have already been some car companies that have tried to put in automatic or assisted parking but there hasn't really been anything very successful. This will definitely [not making any bets though] come true sometime in the next 50 years.
Oh... I almost forgot to mention... Where will Google, Apple, and Microsoft stand in 50 years? Will there be an iPhone 54? Will Google be running the world? Let's just hope that Google doesn't start buying people.
Make sure to come back tomorrow for Stephen's look on 50 years into the future.
Your Tuesday Tech Troop Leader,
Scott Wasserman
Twitter: @applehockey • Applehockey.com
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