Future technological advances?

Accelerating Returns

We cannot discuss the future of the internet without consulting Ray Kurzweil’s theory of Accelerating Returns. Kurzweil’s theory notes that the advance in technology has been exponential, not linear. Indeed, consumers can see evidence of that today as the capacities of electronic devices seem to dwarf purchases from just a few months earlier. His theory assumes that every advance in technology relied on the advances before it, so every leap creates another, more astounding leap.

With the web, we see this in terms of various services and diversions any user can find. As the processing and data handling power of host computers has increased, users can access videos, music and information at the touch of a button. But really, this is all old-hat. Amazing search engines that seem to think on their own to determine relevant search results, spider programs that collect the news a user would want to read, and even internet-radio programs that create playlists based on what a user has preferred in the past are nothing but stronger versions of old programming. The 21st century needs to see something new.

High-Tech, Meet New Tech

Restrictions on the internet have been the same as those on computers until recently. New input formats have created new uses for the web, while new methods of output have increased its accessibility. These various advances combined with the ease with which an individual can connect to the internet will make websites and computing technology like something out of a science fiction movie before the end of the century.

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To bridge the gap, we can focus on a few key technologies available today that will lead the march into the future. Short range broadcast technologies, like BlueTooth, will help pioneer changes in the way we use technology, or perhaps in the way technology uses us. Mass data storage on flash and similar devices will pioneer an age of paper reduction, among other benefits. Finally, mobile broadband technologies will work to make the world even smaller. All of these will combine to make mobile electronics like Personal Data Assistants and cell phones increasingly powerful and necessary.

These devices will combine to create the first fully wired human beings by the end of the 21st century. Subcutaneous radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips are currently being used in human beings for several purposes. Children can be located easily over long distances, and medical data can be retrieved with the tag’s identification number. However, with the ever-shrinking size of mass data storage devices, it will not be long before subcutaneous Flash Drives (a literal Thumb Drive, if you will) equipped with short range broadcast technologies appear. As seen in the film Johnny Mnemonic, human beings will be able to carry massive amounts of data with their bodies. Important documents and favorite music can be carried around with ease on these devices.

When it comes to accessing this data, the short range broadcast ability makes the cell phone and PDA already carried by many even more useful. That data can be accessed by the individual, or it can be broadcast to a larger crowd, as though he or she were a walking radio. A more professional user might use it to carry business reports and presentations, accessible to everyone in the conference room with a BlueTooth equipped laptop or PDA.

Alternatively, the new move towards 3G and other over-the-air internet signals will mean that individuals carrying around their personal data can continuously update personal spaces on the internet. Microsoft is currently working on a SenseCam project, a device that visually records a person’s activities throughout the day with the intention of making it public. This represents a step towards keeping all of an individual’s life public for the world to see.

Internet Now

The websites of the 21st century will have the capacity to be continually updated by users on the move. Social networking spaces and blogs are quickly becoming the most frequented areas of the web, and that will become more true when individuals are able to broadcast all of the most exciting parts of their day.

The popularity of services like Digg and the new EXT.com show that western culture is quickly moving into an era where the individual is the most important part of society. A person’s ability to upload immediate experiences will turn news sites into first person narratives, while others viewing that narrative can determine how relevant it may be for others to view.