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(Dagbladet.no:) Ian Pearson er futurolog. Jobben hans er å forutsi teknologi og samfunnsutvikling. Ikke bare neste år, men femti og hundre år framover. Han har gjort dette i 15 år, og hevder selv å ha 85 prosent treffprosent.

Han jobber i telegiganten british Telecom, der han gir råd om ny teknologi, slik at selskapet skal være i forkant av utviklingen. Han er også en etterspurt foreleser på universiteter og bedrifter.

Nå kan du spørre pearson om hvordan framtiden blir.

Du kan selvfølgelig ikke spørre om hvordan din personlige framtid blir, eller hvilke lottotall som går inn neste uke. Men du kan spørre om alt innen teknologi, medisin, utdanning, data, robotikk, samfunnsutvikling, hjemmet, sikkerhet, krig, reise og transport, romfart og mye annet.

I denne artikkelen kan du lese noen av spådommene til Pearson.

Du kan også lese mer på hans egen hjemmeside.

OBS! Du må huske å stille spørsmålet ditt på engelsk!

 
Publisert mandag 06.06.2005 kl. 16:09, oppdatert 21:24

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The world


Hi Ian. my question is :will the world be overpopulated?? an when?? thnx..
Innsendt av: Eli-beate

world population will peak at about 10Bn in 2050 and start declining after that

Ian
 

Art in New forms


Hello, Mr. Pearson:)

Super of you to answer our wild questions;)

I do amire you and Sience, and I too have some sort of belive that we are accelerating our near future of revealing secrets of the most fantastic sorts...

my question is to you ;-

Can one belive that in time, - In Sience Organic-tecnology, - ( most likely on nano-level of mechanism...) one can construct mosaic surfaces (of some sort of organic coloured minerals of colours? Light??,) - that can be transformed into visual appearences of different kind?

Like the mosaic wall in front of you contains billions of small crystals that captures pictures like the tv we know today ,- but 90% organic and 100% recyclable??
If one could decorate and create geometrical structures to the mosaic..
holographic images with angles synchronizing with the light and cosmic bombardement of electrones and particles .... ??
Can man in the future ever experience mosaic interactiv decor, that, - when not connected appears to be fixed i its visual expression/colour...?

Regards.
Innsendt av: Claudia_

Yes, I think we will certainly see wall coatings that can assume almost any appearance, usig organic displays or the like. Art will flourish in such a world. Many of us produce art but can't distribute it easily, or hang it easily due to lack of wall space. But with the net, and large displays, you can look at lots of works of art all the time. Great!

Ian
 

3*10^8


Hi

I am wondering if we will be able to reach 60% to 90% the speed of light in this century (or the next)? I am not talking about small particles, but large objects.
Innsendt av: Tesla

I doubt if it will hapen that fast. If it does, it will be by a technmology we can't even imagine yet, so I have no idea when it might be

Ian
 

the world


when/and what will kill the living on the earth in million years to come..(sorry bad english,hope youll understand my question=)
Innsendt av: Ane

we are unlikely to get that far. Technology that allows very powerful weapons is likely to spell the end for us. There are too many nasty people in the world, and it only takes one to end it all when we have enough technology

Ian
 

How humans will die out?


I was just wondering, how do you think life on earth will end?
Innsendt av: Roar

by accident
 

The Futurologist of the Future


Will a machine ever take over your job? And are you able to predict what kind of job that machine would do?
Innsendt av: Jesper

A machine could do almost all my job, but the jokes would be even worse than the ones I manage. Part of my job is interfacuing to other people, like now, and machines won't be as good as that as I am for a while yet, so I'm not worried. I retuired in 15 years and it won't happen by then

Ian
 

Fashion in the future


What happened to clothes in metallic fabrics? I've waited for aluminum suits since the mid-eighties...
Innsendt av: Blaa-Knut

and stainless steel mini-skirts too?

Actually new fabricxs that contain wires are being made now and allows electronics to be integrated into clothes.

Ian
 

replicators


will it ever be possible to make replicators like they have in Star Trek? I want one!!
Innsendt av: Erik

I want one too. I think eventually we should be able to do so, but probably 2100 or after, so don't hold your breath.

Ian
 

MANET



my question, mr. Pearson, is will Mobile Ad-hoc Networks replace the Internet in the next 10 years? Thanx in advance.
Innsendt av: Nam Duc Pham

It is possible, but we think in practice ad-hoc nets won't work all that well, so we'll still have proper nets.

Ian
 

Cars in the future


I've been reading about all these new "intelligent" cars where you have to breathe in a tube before you start so that the car knows you're not drunk, and which are going to pull over if you fall asleep, and so on. They're even discussing the potential of cars that drive by themselves on highways. Will it really come to such an extent with all these "active" safety systems that we won't really be in control when we drive anymore?
Innsendt av: Marius Lorentzen

It may happen. Taking people out of the loop would make travle much safer. Cars could drive much faster and closer together, with less fuelk being used, if they were driven by computers instead of people.

Ian
 

Roswell incident


This is both a past and future question.... What do you think happened in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, and do you think the government will change their statement again and give a honest answer about what really happened, whether what crashed was an object from space or a human- made UFO made by alien technology (or something like that)?
Innsendt av: Peder Li

UFOs are almnost certainly too small to be visible to the naked eye. Long before a civilisation gets tech to do inter-stellar travel in a big space-ship, they will be able to send tiny capsules through wormholes that contain nanobots and data. The Enterprise is far too expensive to make by comparison and would be too slow by several orders of magnitude.

Ian
 

Physics/consciousness


Hey man! I read the article about you in Dagbladet, very interesting occupation you have there. It seems that you believe there are going to be computers capable of having a conscoiousness not many years from now. Are these computers going to be digital, neural network or artificial neural network or somehting else? How is it possible to tell if the computer is conscious? And do you think scientific theories of the future might explain what it (consciousness) is and thereby make us able to design such a computer? Or will it just be a "side-effect" of the computer speed/capability/networking/ETC?
Thank you for your answer!
Innsendt av: NitraM

Adaptive anlog neural netwqorks, configured using evolutionary self organisation to evolve consciousness over millions of generations, in about a week or two. We'll know it is conscious when it tell us.

Ian
 




I have a few questions for you.

1) How exactly would a person be able to "download" their brain to a computer? This sounds impossible. How would you be able to scan a brain, scan billions of neurons and convert the results into 1's and 0's. This seems like a long and hard process and I can't even begin to think how you though this would be possible. I can't see how this would work. Sure, it's the future but c'mon.

2) "2012: 3D-tv without 3D-glasses"
This is really a no-brainer. You say 3D-tv but do you mean for everyday use or what? Because people have already invented 3D-monitors with no need for glasses. Changing this to a tv shouldn't take too long.


3) "Supercomputers as fast as the human brain" - This has given my head an itch. I'm a bit baffled by the apperant fact that scientists have been, or will be, able to understand the human brain in such a way they can actually compare it to a machine which can only understand 1's and 0's.
So how did you figure this one out?

So just a few questions. I could probably ask a lot more but I don't have enough time.

What I'm most curious about is really how you figure most of these things out. Most of the things you say we'll see/get in 201x is already possible today.
Innsendt av: Patrick

Scanning the brain requires an injection of billions of nanoparticles that connect to each and every brain cell and relay the neural activity to the outside by radio. I can't see why you would want to convert to binary though, you would be better to stay in the analog domain

Ian
 

cars?


do you think that cars will fly in the future?
if you do, when do you think this will happen?
Innsendt av: marius

Flying cars already exist. They cost about 100k

Ian
 

Amiga


Does Amiga ever have any chance of coming back?
And likewise with Commodore, does Tulip have any chance of redeeming that brand?
Innsendt av: Wally D. Fett

They wer never any good. The spectrum was good, really good! I think a whole generation has grown up now without the benefits of computers that you can plug straight in and start programming right out of the box

Ian
 

Keyboards


When do you think computer keyboards are completely obsolete? That is, typing with our fingers on keys, as oppose to using or brain impulses as so on.
Innsendt av: ad astra

We'll have keyboards for some purposes for many decades to come.

Ian
 

Teleportation


What are your thoughts on teleporting a human being?
Innsendt av: ad astra

Don't bother, send a few nanobots to aseemble and android at the other end, then transmit your mind onto it

Ian
 

Junkie-civilization


I have three Very Important and related questions, based on a superficial reading of Paul Virilio (read him if you havent!):

Will humanity abandon reality in favour of virtuality? Is the end of Difficulty the end of Humanity, or will we adapt to the novel dangers of comfort? Will capitalism propose total heteronomity, and is this at all accomplishable without an opposite and corresponding reaction?

My own speculations: I think technology presents unsurpassed powers and dangers to humanity, and that the masses will be entirely lost in a virtual sleep of angels, while a minute minority will be greatly strengthened by it. I just hope that the masses will be disarmed (as in not present a danger to the environment) by the same virtuality that renders them junkie-burnouts. This will probably be the most critical phase of a very slow adaptation.

What do you think? Do you have comments on my view?

Needless to say, i find your work extremely interesting. May you stay awake the rest of your life! Doubt and Difficulty! Death! Death! Death! Unlimited power! (er... pardon...)
Innsendt av: Gorm

I've already answered the second part of this. Yes, I think some people will abandon real life in favour of their fantasy life that the computer will render for them. If you have no money and live in a horrible little flat, but have a PS7 or something and can live in a cyberspace palace with lots of beautiful girls lookking after your every desire, how often would you come back to relaity?

Ian
 

"lightsabers"


will "lightsabers" ever exist?
Innsendt av: MMlange

I don't know how they work, but I am very sceptical of any technology in a film where you can hear spaceships coming.

Ian
 

The Most Beautiful Animal in the World


What can you tell about the future of the Giraffe? Will it soon take over the world and replace man?
Innsendt av: Bolleh

Nah, they fall over too easily and can't get up

Ian
 

Playstation 7


What will gaming be like 20 years from now? Do you think we'll be able to play games using only brain activity and body motion in the future or are we stuck with the good old hand controll?
Innsendt av: Daniel

direct mind control is very likely for games, and the computer may even be able to link to your brain to produce feelings and sensations one day.
 

Hello


id like to ask you where you get the info about your predictions. ive read through your list from BT Technologies, and much of it looks really interesting. however much of it, to me looks like just a bunch of bs, i.e they too good to even be worthy of considering. So i am interesting in knowing how you have arrived to these seemingly ridiculous predictions. take for instance the creation of matrix, the orgasmatron.

Could you comment on this?
Innsendt av: A curious Guy

I get my stuff by talking to researchers about what they are doing and how much is being spent on it, and how fast they expect to solve problems - and I'm an engineer myself so have a good feel for it. I do 100 conferences a year listening to some of the worlds finest speakers so get really good input info. Then I use common sense and reasoning to get my conclusions. I know they look silly sometimes, but imahgine telling someone in 1970 what your lifestyle is like today, they'd laugh you off the stage.

Ian
 

Compact Disc


First it was the LP's, then alot of crap..and now CD, when will it change?

I know we have DvD audio and SACD, but there's still a little market in these days..
Innsendt av: Eirikur Raudi

I think it will just go generically digital, and you can pick any media that are bsuitable for storage. We need proper rights management so you can trade tracks you have bought and no longer want.

Ian
 

Moores law


Is it going to be valid in the future
Innsendt av: Morten

Moore's law won't run out for a few decades at least in spite of all the people who complain about it. We will go 3D soon

Ian
 

cybersex


When will cybersex become realistic?
Innsendt av: Natan

My friend Trudy Barber built the first cybersex suit in 1991. Since then, some people have been electric shocked because they are better at the sex than they are at electrics!

realism is some time soon after 2020, maybe 2025

Ian
 

_HeNrIk_


if the coputer is evolving to get stronger and more intelligent than the human race, why create them more and more powerful?..
it could end in catastrophe..?


_HeNrIk_
Innsendt av: Henrik Tønnessen

absolutely, why do it, it is stupid. Let's stop it. But how?

Ian
 

Mobile Phones


will the phone techonology evlove as fast as it has the last 5 years?what new stuff will there be on future phones?

Torger Havåg
Innsendt av: Torger Havåg

it will accelearte not slow down. Directuional messaging, seeing where your friends are, instant voice messaging, emotional content, VR overlays on the real world...
 

Virtual Reality


Hey!
Do you think that virtual reality (like from the movie, Lawnmoverman) ever will be common in every house, like the PC is now? If not, what will be the next big thing within home-computing?

Also, Do you think that techlogi will develop it's own intelligence and that we eventaually will destroy ourself because we developet so advanced techlogy?

Thx Ian!
Innsendt av: Håkon B

it is bound to catch on eventually, maybe on the PS4 or PS5.

As I commenetd earlier, we are likely to wipe ourselves out with high tech around 2085 unless we change our approach

Ian
 

war


hello! i wonder if you can see any war i norway in the future? in this generasjon or the next! thank you!
Innsendt av: siv anita sandstad

I really think war is unlikely in northern europe for a long time to come

Ian
 

matrix


it would be strange to create another matrix since we already live in one. Can you prove that this is not a matrix? Maybe one instead should focus on getting out of this one? esc esc esc....
Innsendt av: Fredrik

There is no absolute proof, but any engioneer that could make a matrix would probably do a better job of it. I don't like this version much, it is full of bugs. My hair falls out, I get ill, and if I don't excerecise I get fat. Give me version 2.0

Ian
 

Pets and stuff


What will be the most popular pet in the future. Cats, dogs or something totally new, like a hybrid or something mechanical
Innsendt av: Blaa-Knut

You like dogs, I like cats, why not genetically engineer a hybrid? 2050?

Ian
 

the beast...


The bible talks about "the mark of the beast on the right hand or forehead"... It's suppoused to be a way to pay in the future. Actually the only way to pay... Heard bout it before? Do you think it's a possibillity that we will pay our bills by using our hand or forehead in the future?
Innsendt av: Josva

The bible is full of poetry and symbolism, and you shouldn't try to interpret it too literally

Ian
 

my own reality


I want to create my own reality and live there, how and when will this be possible? I'm going to start my own biotech lab and test different brain integration solutions, which ones do you recomend?
Innsendt av: Jon

You could make a VR world by 2020 that would look realistic and even have some full-sensory reality. By about 2040 you probably won't be able to tell if it's real or no

Ian
 

Domestic robots.


I want a mechanical house-keeper! When will such a thing cost 100£ at Tesco?
Innsendt av: Blaa-Knut

2050 for oen at £10000, maybe never at the £100 level
 




You say yourself that you have a hit percentage of 85. Do you have a list of all your predictions from the last 15 years? It would seem that the percentage could be hard to calculate, because some predictions are more obvious than others, and it can sometimes be debatable wether something is a hit or a miss.
Innsendt av: Vandrer

it is just an estimate, based on the fact that I usually get to say I told you so. But we did actually count up the ones we got right and wrong in a timeline once and it was about 84% then

Ian
 

Question about questions


It's realy interesting to read about your teories! But, what question would you ask Ian Pearson here if you were me? And what would the answer to that question be?
Innsendt av: Josva

That is too difficult, ask me an easier one.

Ian
 

Uploading the brain.


While you predict that uploading the brain to computers will be possible within 2050, aren't there theoretical limits to this procedure that stem from the fact a computer program that simulate your brain functions, not necessarily will produce these same functions? That is to say, why is it probable, indeed possible, that the causal powers that are specific to neurons coud be succefully instantiated in any other substrate?
Innsendt av: Gunnar Gjermundsen

You are talkikign about simulation, I am talking emulation. Simulating a brain will never make the simulation conscius, you have to actually build the neural networks if you want actual consciusness. They will be analog too, not digital
 

Sci fi art


Hi!

First I just have to say that your profesion sounds like the coolest job in the world. I envy you. Do you like sci fi literature and movies? If so, what do you recomend and what kind of sci fi future (from books or movies) is most likely to happen?
Innsendt av: Daveman

I love the Schwarzenegger movies because they have had very good science inpout and are actually quite plausible. I am very worried about the one where we bring back the gladiators, letting superstar gladiators kill prisoners for entertainment. Think of using androids instead and you're probably relasitic
 

Mirrors in space...


You have predicted that big mirrors atached to satelites will bring sunlight to nothern citys within 2010... Did you find that in a cartoon? sounds kinda weird... Is it realistic? Why should we want more sun there?
Innsendt av: Josva

don't recall predicting that oen. I recall suggesting using solar wind deflectors being used as WMDs though.

Ian
 

USA


What will happen to USA as a super-power nation. Will China be the new super-power??
Innsendt av:

china will eventually take over again as it was for centuries before. Economically it will pass the USA by 2020 in buying power, and by 2040 in other ways

Ian
 

palestina conflict


how essential you think the conflict betwen israel and palestina will escalate because of water resorces in the future? Israel will in aboat few years have used up all their natural water resorces, but the palestina region have a lot..
Innsendt av: tom

It will take a lot of cooperation to live in peace when there are basic human needs at stake. That cooperation isn't always there

Ian
 

School


How will the school system develop?
Will we have to go to school in the future? (if you say no... Wouldn't we loose many of the social aspects and the development of social skills that we get in school?)
Innsendt av: Josva

you will still have school, even when you can upload knowledge straight into your brain. School is as much about learninmg to cooperate with other people and live peacefully and learning to cope with problems as it is about knowledge

Ian
 

Religion


What position do you think religion will have in 100 or 1000 years?
Innsendt av: Maja

same as today, it isn't goping to vanish any time soon. What we are seeing in europe is 21st century piety, whihc is just as bad as the spanish inqusition but forms around new age beliefs, environmentalism, vegetarianism, political correctness and so on.

Ian
 

Third World War?Are we alone?


I've got two questions for you Ian Pearson,that i hope you will answer for me.

1.do you think there will come a third world war soon?if that is,who will start it,and why?


my thougt is that the american millitary will not go out of iraq as they promised,and then other countries will involve themselves.

2.Will we find life in the universe soon,if that is,when?


My thought is,that it is just a matter of time before we will find new life,i don't think we are alone in the universe at all,there are life out there somewhere,and we will find it,right?!
Innsendt av: Ole-Johann Gardshol

I'm not expecting a 3rd world war any time soon. Lots of wasr will be fought over water supply soon, but not globally.

I think there is life elsewhere, but I also believe that intelligent species wipe themselves out by warfare or high tech accidents within 300 years of discovering radio.

Ian
 

Nanorobots


Do you see the danger of self reprodusing nanorobots?

Keyword : Terrorists.
Innsendt av: Egil

Not in the little metal robot style, but if you thuink of customised bacteria, then maybe there is a different form of this problem possible

Ian
 

Digitial photo


How will we be able to preserve and show digital photos in the future?
Innsendt av: Jon

print them on paper, whihc is still a superb technology compared to others that we have

Ian
 

antigravity


When do you think we will have a way to create antigravity?
Innsendt av: Magnus

no idea, sorry
 

Biotechnology


Dear Sir,

What are your thoughts regarding the development of biotechnology in the next coming decades? For instance in 15 and 50 years time.

Is it possible that technology such as nanotechnology will become an important tool in medicine? Both in the labratory and clinical? And is it possible that these nanobots will have some kind of AI?

Best regards
Innsendt av: Kristian

both nano and bio will converge with infotech and cognitive science. We will be able to tweak our offspring to look like what we want, and to keep them healthy all the way through their extended lives, finally making a download of their brain into a computer so their minds can carry on after their bodies have died

Ian
 

Breakthrough physics



Hi,
I got some future questions here. Feel free to ask any or all of them.


1. When do you propose it will be possible to produce stable and efficient energy in vast quantities with fusion power? What countries will get there first?

2. When do you propose the majority of american cars will run on hydrogen power or electric power ("clean energy")?

3. When do you propose a real breakthrough in propulsion to enable human exploration in the entire solar system? When do you propose a mission to Pluto can be reached?

And now for the question that most people want to know:

4. When do you suppose we will detect a planet with life (Earth-like conditions) and get contact with extra-solar civilisations?

5. What major advances in nano technology and other breakthrough physics area should be expected to break "Moore's Law" in computer science?

6. When do you expect humans will return to the Moon and go to Mars?


I got hundreds of other questions (A.I., robotics, solar system exploration in general, exobiology, cosmology and more), but I would be glad to hear your ideas and propositions / answers to these questions
Innsendt av: Tore Aurstad

I'll answer q5

Nanotech-biotech converegcen will allow people to assemble electronics using DNA in live bacteria, by about 2025. That measn we can make processing power by the litre, that will be very powerful and totally scalable. Smart yogurt?

Ian
 

War


do you think that it will be fought a new world war in the future. or have the people of the world allready learnd???
Innsendt av: Finn Ivar Stensrud

People have learned nothing from history except that we learn nothing from history. We will alwasy fight each other. Sad but true

Ian
 

Polution


Where will we find an energy source as reliable and efficient as fosile fuel. And how will we solve the problem of ever increasing CO2 in the atmosphere? Will we soon be able stop worrying about the effects of this type of polutioning, or will the sea level rise above Holland and Belgium and temperatures rise significantly above average?
Innsendt av: Concerned...

The best bet for renewable energy is solar power, whihc with nanotech being used, could be good enough to replace the nationbal grid in 20 years, so most oil will be left in the ground maybe.

But nuclear energy will make a big comeback and will be done more safely in future.

Nanotech-biotech converegence may give us techs to remove pollutants and clean up the atmosphere by the ened of the century
 

Bio-Tech


How long (if ever) do you think it will take before we start modifying our bodies using technological "add-ons"? For instance replacing a biologival rm for a mechanical one, because it's stronger. Or adding microchips to our brain.
Innsendt av: Steffen

There are already prosthetic limbs, but using them cosmetically to replace a working real one will be decades away and may be banned in most countries. Adding chips to your brain already happens to control some illnesses and to help disabled people to use thought recognition. Expect widepsread use by 2040

Ian
 

Oslo-Norway


Will mankind in about some years, be able to travel between Oslo to New York, or even Oslo to Sydney in.....lets say...5 minutes? Like for ordinary people? If so, how soon in the future will that be happening?

Thanks a lot (n_n)
Innsendt av: Jibril

Maybe in an hour for very rich people, but not 5 mninutes. 20000km is a long way, and you have to accelerate and decelerate comfortably, and climb to height. For ordinary people, we may see it fall to 5 or 6 hours at reasonable cost.

Ian
 

motorised food


I'm still waiting for my robotic maid. Should I stop hoping, and get a wife instead?
Innsendt av: rolf

The wife has other advantages too. Get your wife, then when you buy a robotic maid, she will be even more pleased with you and you'll win even more

Ian
 

Internet


What do you think about the development of the internet?...What kind of speed is most reason in about 5 years?
Innsendt av: Bileten

Broadband access speeds will vary between countries. We expect 5-10Mb/s to be common in the UK in 5 years. Making the internet fully mobile and mapping it on to geopgrpahy will be a huge change too.
 

))


How will my career be in the future?

Mvh,
Marit Kristine
Innsendt av: marit kristine

varied

Ian
 

Stem Cell Treatment


Hi Ian :)

When do you think the western european countries wil embrace the possibilities of stem cell treatment? The Russians, and others, have been treating people with stem cells for years. Stem cell treatment is inevitable. But when will we realize that?
Innsendt av: splintercell

I think you are right, it will come. Resistance will slowly evaporate over the next decade, so I'd expect it by 2020 at the latest
Ian
 

how much.


Can you estimate a percentage of what is left to be invented? Or..On a scale from 0-100, how much have we invented, when you think of how long humand kind is estimated to excist.

I hope you understand the question.


Innsendt av: Stian, Oslo

Probably 99.999% of things haven't been invented yet.

My best estimate for the future of civilisation as we know it is about 2085. New inventions in terms of weapons or big accidents will make an increasing risk of human extinction, whihc reaches 1% per year by 2050 and keeps inbcreasing. Worrying !
 

food and health care


Hey Ian,
the western world are facing many lifestyle related challanges - obesity, cancer, heart deases and so on.

When can we expect cures in form of pills for this? That is - a pill that cleanse your body for obsolete fat once a meal is digested.

By the way - can you give the lottory numbers in may 2008?
Innsendt av: patrick bateman

There are already pills that reduce appetite so the ongoing development of things like that show promise. But people are becomign more aware of diet, it is the new environmentalism, so expect that people will get much fitter and thinner in a few years time aas it gathers fashion momentum.

If I knew the lottery numbers, and told you, I wouldn't win so much!
Ian
 

Translation


With all the translation software that's been developed, do you think man will no longer be needed in a few years, even though that means the translations loose "their human touch"?

Regards
Translator...
Innsendt av:

Translations are rarely 100% accurate. To get the last few percent you need consciousness so that the computer has the same expereince as people so can understand the words properly. That will be at least 2015 or 2020, then with smarter than man machines, translation is the least of our problems!

Ian
 

A bombardment of questions!


Hello,

What will the future be like? Do we have an Orwellian future in store, or perhaps one somewhat more positive? What will Closed Circuit Television lead to? Complete totalitarian control by the government? Will humans be replaced by, for example, robots in factories etc? When can we expect to have a device that will do almost everything in our pocket? There, that should keep you busy for a while! :) Thank you!
Innsendt av: HP

A 1984 Orwellian future would be strongly resisted. The technology to make such a worlkd already exists widely, but governments know they will not get elected if they abuse us too much, and civil liberty groups are quite strong. If it goes too far, we would all stop it and rebel.

Ian
 

Tv-technology


I've always wondered if maybe in the fututre television will be replaced with some kind of laserpoints (think of it like 4 spotlights) attached to the floor and the roof. 2 on each side at the top and 2 at the bottom on the floor so we watch tv that way.... Do you think there will be such thing in the future?

Innsendt av: Petter

It already exists, that is how some data projectors already work, with lasers raster scanned by micromirror arrays to make the display on the wall. Such systems are becoming qwuite common in homes now. You shopuld try projecting on the ceiling though, then you can lie on the couch and watch, but it makes it harder to drink the beer

Ian
 

This solarsystem


If we imagine that every planet in our solarsystem have the potential for humans to live there. When do you think each planet will be suitable for you and me to live on, on a permanent basis?

Also, what do you think will be the most dramatic changes in schools all over the world the next 50-100 years?
Innsendt av: Tom Nekstad

I don't think we could live on any other planets in our solar system except mars and maybe the moon Europa. We will probably have a manned mars base by 2050, Europa much later, say 2100, but these are just wild guesses
 

When..


When can we expect the graphics on our PCs to have the same quality as our current DVDs?
(When I say "our PCs, I do not think of the super-computers they've got in labs in the US and in Japan, but the regular PCs of regular people..)
Thank you! =)
Innsendt av: Peter

In terms of resolution, PC screens are already better than DVDs. In terms of simulating moving graphics such as the special effects you see in films, it will be about 12-15 years before PCs catch up with current supercomputer capability. More like 12 than 15 since tech accelerates. So, 2017 or thereabouts, you could design your own plots and the computer could make movies for you.

Can't wait!

Ian