Living in the future

[redbird]

It took long enough, but I heard a radio commercial this morning for a video phone. The "this is the future" part was that they weren't selling it as "hey, wow, a video phone!" but as "this video phone is easy to set up, and you can make all your long distance calls for one low price."

Comments

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

We're not quite there yet; videophones are supposed to take over completely from voice-only phones. But it looks like we'll get there soon. People may not _use_ the video; but if it's just as cheap to buy a videophone, they'll decide "Why not?"

The other perennial -- an aircar in every garage -- still seems to be distant. That's been predicted as just around the corner at least since 1943.

A more recent edition to the list is the paperless office.

[elynne.livejournal.com]

Yep. It's sneaking up on us, one day at a time. I feel fairly confident that electronic implants of various sorts are going to be the next big tech thing... but it won't be a tidal wave of inundation and reaction, it'll be a lot of little things, here and there, and one day we'll wonder how we ever got by without our index finger stylus implant, wrist watch (literally!), personal bio-monitor display, fiber-optic color-changing hair and fingernail replacements... and all the little stuff can run off the weak electrical field generated by our own bodies; no need for batteries! The fun part will be the "ID chip" - that's going to cause some fights.