Poll: What's trending in 2050?

[braumeister]

I first got involved with computers in 1968 in the USAF. According to Wikipedia, the AN/FSQ-7 (affectionately known to many of us as “Clyde”) was the largest computer ever built. Designed and built by IBM in the 1950s, it weighed 250 tons, had 60,000 vacuum tubes, and used up to 3 megawatts of electricity.

I have read that the S1 chip in the Apple Watch on my wrist is more powerful than the original iPad, which would indicate that its processing power is greater than Clyde’s. Yet it hardly weighs anything and has it own built-in battery that runs it for a couple of days in my case.

Similarly, we went from the first heavier-than-air flight in 1903 to walking on the moon in 1969, all within the average lifespan of a human being.

Likewise, from the first transatlantic radio signal in 1901, to the first public satellite television signals in 1962.

My mother was an extremely intelligent woman born in 1915, and was utterly unable to comprehend the internet, web, email, etc. It was just too much for her. Likewise, a very good friend of mine born in 1925 was an MIT grad and a project manager for highly classified projects at McDonnell Douglas, yet rarely used email as it was just too strange for him. He Skyped with friends all over the world, but email was a chore.

My point here is simply that we think we’re on top of things today but we have absolutely no clue what the world will be like when the next generation is as old as we are today.

 

[W2R]

I voted "other". There are SO many possibilities, aren't there?

I'm thinking that universal high speed wireless internet available for free from anywhere, rock solid and so fast that slowdowns are imperceptible. Logins to the internet would be through thumbprint or facial recognition or maybe both plus more, so that we wouldn't have to worry about passwords any more.

OK, maybe some wishful thinking going on here....

People would mostly stay at home, with every imaginable transaction and interaction being done on the internet.

Lonely just being at home like that so much? There could be big public skype parties that you could go to.

Want something cute to wear to the skype party? Maybe by then you could just go to an online store, give them your credit card, and in seconds end up with an outfit being created somehow by your 3D printer in just the color you wanted.

I think we are still in the Age of the Internet, which is why I'm thinking that in just 34 years that will still be where the cool stuff is happening.

I have been disappointed by how few of the advances I expected 50-60 years ago, have actually happened. I seriously thought we would all be traveling by private planes, with hangars in our back yards. Also I thought we would be vacationing on the Moon or Mars by now.

 

[Silver]

Trans-species and artificial body part replacements, like livers, hearts, lungs and pancreas. Life spans over 100 years will be more common.

 

[jjquantz]

I voted "other". There are SO many possibilities, aren't there?

...

People would mostly stay at home, with every imaginable transaction and interaction being done on the internet.

Lonely just being at home like that so much? There could be big public skype parties that you could go to.

...

Sounds like "Huddling Place," a 1944 scifi story by Clifford D. Simak. A couple of brief quotes from the story.

"I told him, sir, that you never went anywhere."

"That was quite right, Jenkins," said Webster. "None of us ever go anywhere."

Another,

"For what need was there to go anywhere? It all was here. By simply twirling a dial one could talk face to face with anyone one wished, could go, by sense, if not in body, anywhere one wished. Could attend the theater or hear a concert or browse in a library halfway around the world. Could transact any business one might need to transact without rising from one's chair."

The crux of the story is that there may remain some things (modes of thinking, skills, services, etc.) that require a physical presence and should people become unable/unwilling to move, the ability to accomplish these things will be lost. I won't go into details in case someone wants to read it.

 

[jjquantz]

Oh, I voted brain implants.

 

[Totoro]

Body enhancement. 20/05 vision is so 2040. Purple skin is the new summer hype.

Rejuvenation therapies of all sorts. Extra kidney, just because there's room.

Build your own species playsets. Upload the DNA, watch the species frolic about a few weeks later. Special clearance required for outside lab playdates.

Ultimate recluses living in VR quasi-permanently. Get confused with reality. VR-induced accidental suicide is a thing.

Tourist megacities: no more actual residents, only museums and exhibits.

Unter: Self-flying shared airplanes.

Share a child: two families raising one child. Too expensive otherwise. Double the love for the child - it's great!

North Pole Island opens up a new slide at magnetic pole funpark.

 

[Car-Guy]

Who knows but I'm sure things will be different. Hopefully Cryonics, well before 2050 or I won't ever know or care.

 

[Major Tom]

I have been disappointed by how few of the advances I expected 50-60 years ago, have actually happened. I seriously thought we would all be traveling by private planes, with hangars in our back yards. Also I thought we would be vacationing on the Moon or Mars by now.

On the wall at head office, back in my working days, was a quote attributed to Bill Gates. I'm not sure if he really did say it, but illustrates a point -

"We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten."

I think the same general principle applies to different time periods too. Perhaps we will be vacationing on the moon in a few more decades!

 

[Ginny]

I don't care now what will be trending when I'm 90. I barely care now. I am amazed at what my iPhone does.

 

[COcheesehead]

DNA testing will be so advanced, all medical issues will be dealt with at the cell level and won't be allowed to advance. Cancers will no longer exist. You will only visit a doctor for broken bones and body enhancements. Average ages will increase to a 100+.

 

[eytonxav]

Robust genetic engineering to cure serious medical conditions.

 

[harley]

All I know is that jet packs and flying cars will be 20 years away. Eternally.

 

[6miths]

Sounds like "Huddling Place," a 1944 scifi story by Clifford D. Simak. A couple of brief quotes from the story.

"I told him, sir, that you never went anywhere."

"That was quite right, Jenkins," said Webster. "None of us ever go anywhere."

Another,

"For what need was there to go anywhere? It all was here. By simply twirling a dial one could talk face to face with anyone one wished, could go, by sense, if not in body, anywhere one wished. Could attend the theater or hear a concert or browse in a library halfway around the world. Could transact any business one might need to transact without rising from one's chair."

The crux of the story is that there may remain some things (modes of thinking, skills, services, etc.) that require a physical presence and should people become unable/unwilling to move, the ability to accomplish these things will be lost. I won't go into details in case someone wants to read it.

Reminds me of E.M. Forster's 'The Machine Stops' which I read in the 70s and came across the other day while reading of a 'Best of' Sci-Fi book at the cottage. Definitely could be headed in this direction and the actual number of things that one would need direct human contact for is surprisingly low. By 2050 there will likely be no need for direct contact with healthcare providers with the advances in robotics. I would think that if doctors can be replaced by computers/robots that most people could be and 2050 is quite a ways away. Remote, robotic surgery is already doable and with advances in nano-technology the possibilities are impressive.

 

[Music Lover]

All I know is that jet packs and flying cars will be 20 years away. Eternally.

I don't want to see flying cars. People can't handle roads today...adding another layer of traffic to worry about is a recipe for disaster.

 

[RetireAge50]

I don't want to see flying cars. People can't handle roads today...adding another layer of traffic to worry about is a recipe for disaster.

No people required for these flying cars.

 

[jimnjana]

I have been disappointed by how few of the advances I expected 50-60 years ago, have actually happened. I seriously thought we would all be traveling by private planes, with hangars in our back yards. Also I thought we would be vacationing on the Moon or Mars by now.

In 1981 I wrote a paper for my English 101 course in which I discussed how computers would one day be in every home. I felt like Ralphie from A Christmas Story when I got the paper back. The professor had graded it a C+ and had added ..."They said the same thing about Airplanes".

 

[Sunset]

Learning to make fire in the great wastelands of Earth.

 

[harley]

I have been disappointed by how few of the advances I expected 50-60 years ago, have actually happened. I seriously thought we would all be traveling by private planes, with hangars in our back yards. Also I thought we would be vacationing on the Moon or Mars by now.

I can help with that a little bit...Wing South Airpark Real Estate in Naples Florida

 

[sengsational]

All I know is that jet packs and flying cars will be 20 years away. Eternally.

Flying cars will be here much sooner than 2050, so wouldn't be trending (by then, we won't even notice them buzzing around). Zero skill cars will be first, then, when the battery technology advances, we will have Uber Air vehicles moving us around.

That will be old hat by 2050, but what will take longer and probably will take 30 years are advanced nanobots that repair cellular damage and target disease processes. There will be generalized nano tech that address specific health problems, delivered through the bloodstream.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

Robust genetic engineering to cure serious medical conditions.

Right, toss your wrinkled genes in the CRISPR, remove a designer label.

At that age I will be looking for bio-tech breakthroughs e.g. - prescription strength 'Super Geritol'.

 

[sengsational]

I can help with that a little bit...Wing South Airpark Real Estate in Naples Florida

Hobbiest flying will persist, but I'll click on the grocery store on my device, and a minute later, I'll climb in the multi-rotor which lands in my yard and drops me at the store...all under automated control.

 

[Totoro]

Flying cars will be here much sooner than 2050, so wouldn't be trending (by then, we won't even notice them buzzing around). Zero skill cars will be first, then, when the battery technology advances, we will have Uber Air vehicles moving us around.

I wouldn't be surprised if flying cars as we understand it now will never arrive at all since it doesn't make fundamental sense.

Flying is more energy intensive than driving. Makes more noise, different tech in the drive train and different optimal forms, quite likely different propulsion and fuel too.

For short distances you'll have self-driving cars that cannot fly. For longer distances and rural transportation one might have self-flying microlight airplanes. Each are tailored to their own niche.

So Uber will summon you a small electric car, drive to the nearest takeoff strip (or an open park, even football field) where you switch to a microlight like this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aveko_VL-3_Sprint

At the other end you'll have a reverse process.

Even longer distances => bullet trains. Longest distances => Bulk jets or orbital insertion (if you can handle the G forces).

 

[sengsational]

There is nothing like point to point travel. You don't see people with high means taking public transportation. It's always a pain. So is the park and ride. Given an energy density solution and safe controls for takeoff and navigation, both of which seem doable, or nearly done, it seems very likely to me to be the way transportation will evolve. And I think fixed wing craft will not be the solution. It will be multi-rotor craft that can land "anywhere". Less efficient, true, but that's addressed by the energy storage and density solutions that I expect.

There will be brain interface virtual reality, so less need to go anywhere anyway.

 

[Happyras]

Flying cars will be here much sooner than 2050, so wouldn't be trending (by then, we won't even notice them buzzing around). Zero skill cars will be first, then, when the battery technology advances, we will have Uber Air vehicles moving us around.

That will be old hat by 2050, but what will take longer and probably will take 30 years are advanced nanobots that repair cellular damage and target disease processes. There will be generalized nano tech that address specific health problems, delivered through the bloodstream.

I agree that there will be low altitude "flying" cars, completely non-driver assisted. I worked on a pilot program at Boeing in the 70's, AGRt, which were infant steps toward uber type transport unmanned. We now have the technology to take this forward. Without breaking my former secret clearance, I can at least say its possible. The infrastructure cost for roads and highway will be reduced to keeping the grass on the interstate mowed.

I have friends still working the nanobot technologies to be used in medicine, these will be enabled sooner than you think, but the drug companies will have to cooperate, as it will kill a lot of patent drugs.

 

[Happyras]

I wouldn't be surprised if flying cars as we understand it now will never arrive at all since it doesn't make fundamental sense.

Flying is more energy intensive than driving. Makes more noise, different tech in the drive train and different optimal forms, quite likely different propulsion and fuel too.

Even longer distances => bullet trains. Longest distances => Bulk jets or orbital insertion (if you can handle the G forces).

Well you almost got it right. The high speed trains run along on a mag propulsion/elevation eliminating surface friction losses, reducing the frictional loss to that of the displaced air, which for those who know of laser cannon technology, is eliminated with pulsed bursts creating a forward vacuum. The flying car concept is really a high-bred of these technologies along a surface grid. These grids are being developed to replace roadways as I write, and are laid out with interlocking sections that are mass produced. They actually look pretty cool.