Technology: 2059
I’ve been wondering lately, what is the old age of my generation going to look like? In the words of Captain Jack Harkness… the 21st century’s when everything changes. Our generation is the first to grow up with computers in a high percentage of homes, mobile phones widely used in our teens, a plethora of computer games and consoles in our loungerooms, and widespread access to the internet 24/7. Maybe we’re the first generation to collectively have the ability to pick up a new electronic gadget – be it a mobile phone, MP3 player, or even a new computer program or operating system – and be able to work out most of the kinks without looking at a manual. Technology is developing to become more intuitive, but we grew up on the stuff that wasn’t as predictable – and somehow evolved the skills that give us the ability to use a wide range of technology with very little coaching. Perhaps in our fascination with gadgetry we’ve lost skills in other areas that older generations are proficient with – doing mathematics without a calculator? The ability to entertain ourselves without a television? Communicating with people face-to-face?
The world is changing… so what will Australia look like in fifty years? I’d be 71 in 2059. Imagine my peers and I sitting in a nursing home… will we still have wii-like games to keep us active and engaged, sitting in the living room, crowded around TV screens? Will we want them – or will there be more important things to do, like being with family and friends? Every nursing home bedroom should have access to high-speed internet, with a computer desk (even a computer) as standard furnishings, so we can IM our acquaintances spread far and wide – even the online acquaintances we’ve never met, but kept in touch with. We could be doing adult education courses online, have our own social networking site (wrinklebook – facebook for seniors!), and beat all those young whippersnappers at their new online games (‘when I was a girl, we had proper RPGs, none of these fancy graphics with poor plots and sketchy characters’). We could borrow novels from the digital libraries of the world, download the news, plug in our earphones and turn up the volume (who needs hearing aids?).
I guess I’ve just been fascinated by the idea of how technology is going to fit into our lives in the future. Although I have no idea where technology is heading, what kind of advances we will see in the next fifty years… I can’t imagine using computers or my mobile any less than I do now. How crazy are our retirement homes going to be, filled with a bunch of octogenarian geeks? It’s a lot easier to have a bowling competition on a computer screen than in the rec. room… bring it on!!
August 19th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I have to say I did like our return to boardgames last night!!! Haven’t played monopoly in years and it was great fun!
August 20th, 2009 at 1:13 am
digital retina impants that allow us to bring up an interface, we can then programme our hands so that they can interact with the inner projection, so a digital computer in our eyes. instant access anywhere. Perfect Privacy. tiniest of vibrations to tell us the mood of the person we’re talking to so we know if they’re happy, tired, sad, angry by the spasms in the eye muscles. :-p
August 20th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
When I was little, I always spent long car trips imagining I had a camera implanted in one eye. All I had to do was blink, and I’d capture whatever I was looking at. I’d spend ages trying to find perfect shots to take with my eyecam!
August 20th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
…err when I was 5, 6 and 7 I used to pretend that me and my friends got car wash chemicals in our eyes, and from it we mutated abilities to fight off grime monsters/zombies/aliens with like soap/bubble laser/beams powers… cleaning abilities?! the hell?! …err, I’ve never told anyone that! lol, how embarrassing.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
[...] being International Technology Week? But you should definitely go and check out her two blog posts, Technology: 2059 in which she wonders about technology and what it will be like 50 years from now when we are 71, [...]
August 27th, 2009 at 10:52 am
I often think about similar things, I know the world is going to be different but it’s hard to fathom exactly how or what will be different. I hope that as I age I don’t become so out of touch like my grandparents
Technology could conceivably develop and proliferate to become so vastly different that your blog post could be rendered irrelevant. I’m not convinced by the argument that Facebook and other social networking tools are diluting real life relationships between people, I think they are an enhancement but that people will not stop craving “hard” physical social contact.
August 27th, 2009 at 10:54 am
By the way I for one do not want to be in a nursing home at 71.
August 27th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Oh and in some ways I just wish we still wrote letters, I pulled out some of my grandparents old letters and it really is a beautiful way of communicating in a sense different to online communication.
November 30th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Yeah, just where IS technology headed? Some times its scary thinking!! Very interesting topic to ponder on ! I love the photo!!