Looking Ahead at Consumer Technology

Here is an interesting report from the mainstream news media speculating about a future transformed by ubiquitous computing:

We'll also have access to more data about the world around us, dwarfing the real-time stock quotes, government statistics, scientific databases and other information stores available today. In the next decade as conjured by Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey, all that information will be available instantaneously, anywhere. He imagines spotting an acquaintance at a conference and having at his fingertips links to the person's most recent research, plus a reminder of her husband's name. Software will remember everything McQuivey buys, reads online and watches on TV. A "smart filter" will use his past choices to suggest the next book or show, or even what he should eat for dinner. It's a more powerful version of the way Amazon.com and Netflix make book or movie recommendations.

I particularly like how the reporter charts a path from where we were in technology (using familiar and fondly remembered products), to where we are now and to where we are likely to be in the future. Her comment that the iPhone will likely be obsolete in ten years was exciting (or chilling, depending on your perspective). My only criticism would be that she fails to anticipate artificial intelligence contributing to the power of ubiquitous computing, although one could argue that some of the applications she envisions would most likely have some kind of AI component. In all, it was an imaginative and informed look at a future in which we become more dependent on computers even as their physical footprint continues to shrink.