A device that can make a dog speak English (like in the movie UP), a cell phone that can transform into any object or button that one can press to change their hairstyle. These are some of my ideas that could be new gadgets for 2020. Yet as a think about all of the gadgets and technology that we have acquired, I wonder if inventing new ones are really necessary.
In “Future of The Internet: Innovation Will Continue To Catch Us By Surprise,” experts in the technology and media field gave their opinion on what they believe would be the next big thing in 2020. The Future of The Internet also stated that new innovations will be created “out of the blue.”
I agree that technology in the present and in the future have and will be created out of nowhere. I remember when VCR’s were in every household and Compact Discs (CD Players) were in every child and adults school bag. I cannot recall when the DVD player appeared or even if the public were notified. All I remember is instantly, one was in my household and soon the VCR was boxed up and put away in the closet. Like most of society, my family adjusted to the change of technology, no questions ask and like most, we didn’t even realize there was so much change; it just seemed natural to “go with the flow.” Another example of “out of the blue” technology are the mp3s. One minute the public are carrying CD players and the next a smaller music player are in the palms of consumers hands; as if mp3 players were around all this time. The interesting part was that the consumers already knew how to use the new technology that just popped out of nowhere. Those who did not, instantly became use to it. Link Hoewing, Vice President of Information Technology, Verizon Communications, states “We are creatures of habit and we are influenced tremendously by what those around us do. We don’t like to admit that but it is true. No one really knows why things catch on but when they do, it is often a surprise.” I don’t think the public are so much as surprise by new technology but inquisitive.
Anthony Townsend research director for Institute for the Future states that there are endless combinations one could created for new gadgets. This is true, however new gadgets should not be created in the near future because new gadgets would not be considered new in the future. I believe that it will be a reinvention of a gadget that was created in 2010. Does that make it new or improve? Creating or inventing new technology will only make the public lazier than they already are. The Iphone for example, has multiple applications that consumers no longer have to venture out into the real world. An Iphone user can instantly turn of the lights to their home or apartment right from their cell phone or order flowers if they miss an anniversary. They could even lock their car from the Iphone. These new technologies only suggest to the public that it is ok for it to take over their lives. What happen to going to the flower shop and picking out flowers instead of on a mobile phone screen? Going to the library to read a book instead of on a Kindle?
I believe the more gadgets that are created the more the world is going to mimic the movie WallE, a world where the people are dependent on technology that they forgot what the real world is like; forgot what reality is. I fear that society will forget how to run or ride a bike because they can “pretend” on the WII console system. I am afraid that society will no longer have a need for the outdoors or breathe in the fresh air because everything that they “require” are on their PDAs or Smart Phones.
I proclaim death to new gadgets, applications and technology in the year 2020.
