A vision of the future is one in which our world of everyday objects and places becomes infused and augmented with information processing and exchange. In this vision, the technology providing these capabilities is unobtrusively merged with real-world objects and places, so that in a sense it disappears into the background, taking on a role more similar to electricity - an invisible pervasive medium.
Disappearing into real-world objects:
- "People are going to have access to intelligence in multiple ways. I'm going to want to have intelligence in my pocket. I'm going to want to have intelligence in my TV. I'm going to want to have intelligence in my den and in my office. And what I may want in terms of size, of screen size, of input techniques, keyboard, handwriting, voice, may vary." -- Steve Balmer
What the future holds for us regarding the
DisappearingComputer is unknown, but trends in computing and communicating are such that the dividing line between them will probably disappear. The distinction between devices as being singular, such as lap-top, cell-phone, vhf-radio, etc, will become transparent to the user. The device used to communicate with the rest of the world will be of a class called a communicator, which can be instantiated as a cellular phone, a two-way radio, a wireless inter-com, a broadcasting module, a text-messenger, an audio-email, or all-at-once, being programmed to respond via an answering instance to complete the two-way, or two-locale communications. Video as well as audio might be selected.
I agree...This is the new future world. My only concern, our children not educated properly to take advantage of this new world.
With regards to the other comment: most children I've seen are better than me at using their cell-phones. We 'old fogies' of the 21st century will be the ones who, at age 65+, won't be able to take advantage of this new world of 2040 and later.
Lets see:
- children (5 to 12 = 36 to 45 years of age - makes sense)
- 65+ (96 years of age and older - if they are still around, they probably won't care much, even if able)
"The device used to communicate with the rest of the world will be of a class called a communicator..." Hmm. This
isn't Star Trek, at least not yet. Although there is quite a bit of crossover functionality between the communications and operability devices being mentioned there is still a vast gulf in the
usability of devices with too broad an application. Until somebody can come up with an unobtrusive and completely comfortable way to get audio into your ear and out of your mouth then the handset on a phone will continue to be popular. Until somebody can figure out a way to get textual and pointing controls from your hand to a computer quickly, accurately, and comfortably then keyboards and mice will remain popular. Until somebody can figure out how to get simple text messages in front of your eyes to read without alerting everybody else at the conference table then cell phones/pagers will continue to be popular.
Yes, EmbeddedSystems continue to delve deeper and deeper into our lives in substantial ways. For the most part these devices are totally transparent to the users of these systems which depend upon such embedded intelligence, but that intelligence is a vital part of the system. Modern automobiles have computer-controlled fuel injection systems with sensors for all kindsa stuff like incoming air pressure, temperature, and humidity; exhaust oxygen content, unburned hydrocarbons making it out the tailpipe, etc. No modern car could meet emissions standards in any modern country without the use of such intelligent controls. Modern HVAC air handling equipment uses computer-controlled heating, chilling, fan and compressor motor control, flapper zone control, etc. No HVAC system could possibly meet the rigid demands of a modern working or living environment without the use of such controls. Etc., etc., etc.
Forward looking is more valuable when considered in relation to Backward looks
- It once appeared and was found to be useful, but now by enhancement and modification has been made operable in a way which has become invisible
- meaning: it requires no particular expertise or dexterity of the user, to use it
- It has as its appearance and the knowledge of utilizing it, become transparent
- Sometimes it is activated by structure, other times by environment, and even by merely existing or residing in a container or in a context.
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DonaldNoyes.20110706.20140819
See: RemoteEvaluationAlgorithm, HyperTags
Contributors: DonaldNoyes, sharkbait.spawar.navy.mil
Disappearing Computer