“What Will Be Different In Twenty Years” - An Exercise in Creative Thinking
Prepared by Junior Chemical Engineering Students - Fall 2006
What Will Be Different In 20 Years?
“If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run - and often in the short one - the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative.”
- Arthur C. Clarke
I see all entry and exit dependent on biological systems or small RF chips that are in a credit card or cell phone. I also think that credit card companies will start to offer “speed pay” type cards that the many gas stations have and incorporate that into cell phones also.
The standard mode of transportation will remain with the infrastructure of interstates still the best means for normal transportation. Most cars will not run on combustion engines though. Hydrogen will be the main energy source for personal transportation, but the trucking industry will be very slow to move away from their diesel based transportation to alternate fuel sources.
The internet will be even more prevalent as city wide wireless will be created and put in all major cites across America. As a result there will be wireless cards in many items that we may not think of has needing the internet. These items will have some attributes of “I-Robot” in that firmware can be set to update automatically, yet will have hardware over rides and not central intelligence to dictate these updates, rather a simple lookups of small updates on company servers every set period of time.
As a result of the city wide wireless many new devices will provided instant access to information beyond our current dreams. One could log into your own house while at work to see if the kids are really studying, or looking to the fridge via a small camera to see if they ate any of the desert that the wife cooked last night for the party.
The sad thing about all of these predictions is that they are available right now, but will take a long time to catch on and be main stream enough for the American industries to mass produce such products.
What Will Happen In The Next 20 Years?
Technological advancements will boom. Most thing will be based onelectronics and computers. For transcations, electronic money will bethe way to go and instead of swiping a card, quick scan using somesmaller item will be done. For transportation, every vehicle will bemagnetic like bullet trains, but with more freedom in direction. Andtrash won't be a hard thing to dispose of, just zap it away!!
Alternateenergy will be big, and possibly certain energy will be utilized betterto get most power. Oil will become thing of the past, but our pollutionproblem will still persist of what has happened and is happening. UVrays may pose as a huge problem and sunglasses may become a typicalthing to wear everyday. And several buildings will have tinted windows.
Video games will be all holographic, no more big screens. And no morejoysticks either, just use your hands and feet pressing "imaginary"buttons to play.
Big Changes
There will be several big changes in the world in thenext 20 years at the rate that is right now. The biggest change will bein computers where instead of a computer being considered old in 6months after it comes out, it will old in 2 hours or so. Life will bequite fast paced.
What Will Be Different 20 Years From Now?
I think that we will start to shift towards hybrid cars or atleast analternative source of fuel besides oil. New sources of energy willemerge besides natural gas.
I think that there will be a more widely used form of masstransportation/transit. Tolls or something else will be enforced toforce people not to drive as often.
Fingerprint/eyescan/handscanning will be used to enter certain places(i.e. office, home, school, etc.) There will be tourist trips to space.
Discussion Of The Advancement Of Humanity Within 20 Years
What will the state of humanity be in 20 years? Man has always wondered what the future holds; for if there is one constant in life it is change. When I think back to my elementary school days, I do not remember cell phones or personal computers, although I am sure they were around, yet today, cell phones and computers surround us. Indeed, the world has evolved into a technological beast. Many people have heard the saying, “It takes money to make money.” A similar statement would be “It takes technology to develop technology.” With the rapid improvement of modern computers, it is feasible to speculate that people, with enough money, will own robots which will assist in household duties in the next 20 years. Today’s computers will resemble future computers in the same respect that a 1930 type writer resembles a modern computer, in that the two look similar.
The sciences will undoubtedly be much more advanced within the next 20 years. The mapping of the human genome has opened a Pandora’s Box of medical treatments which doctors and researchers are only beginning to understand. Once command of human genetics is completely established, all disease will be eradicated. This will probably not be true within 20 years, but within my lifetime.
Modern physics is currently missing a large piece of the cosmological puzzle. There is one HUGE problem, the universe is accelerating. This statement alone is a testament to the fact that man does not know as much about the universe as he might believe. All established physical laws state that the universe should not be expanding at an accelerating rate. Physicists explain this phenomenon away by invoking “Dark Matter” or “Dark Energy”, which cannot be seen or detected. I believe that there is a, yet to be discovered, 5th fundamental force of nature. The discovery of this force could have profound effects on man kinds understanding of the universe.
Within the next 20 years mans addiction to oil will be swiftly struck own. Global demand for oil constantly increases. Once half of earths oil supply is depleted crude oil market price will skyrocket, some speculate this will occur within the next 5 years. Within 20 years oil will no longer power personal vehicles due to extraordinarily high cost. Vehicles will probably be powered by ethanol and hydrogen fuel cell technology. The world will be very different in 20 years; I look forward to seeing what the future holds.
How Will Engineering Change Over The Next Twenty Years?
The use of technology becomes more and more present with every upcoming day. Engineers have models, programs, and other tools that do many different calculations in many different situations. The need for someone who can think outside of the box becomes very important in the future because these models will surely fail. No matter how accurate a theory may be, there will always be errors that an engineer will need to find. The amount of engineers needed to do a certain task may be reduced however because of new technology.
How Will The World Be Different In 20 Years?
In 20 years the technology of the world will follow the natural advancementthat it follows at the present. And convenience will still be the main driving force for many technological advancements. Three areas that I see major advancement are cell phones and movie/music mediums. Cell phones currently perform a lot of other tasks beside make phone calls; they now have access to the web and many also function as a palm pilot, in addition their music capabilities. In the next 20 years I see the cell phone becoming increasingly smaller. When they first were introduced, cell phones were big and bulky, now they are so small that most can fit in one’s back pocket. This is a part of convenience because it makes the cell phone easier to carry. The cell phone will continually have more capabilities, maybe even one day also functioning as a remote control. Again here, the motive would be convenience.
I also see a lot of advancement with movie and music mediums. The days of the tape and VHS cassettes are slowly moving into extinction. The introduction of the cd provided more capabilities. For example now you can use the DVD player to listen to music CDs. I eventually think that the in the next 20years there will be a new smaller medium, that holds more information then the CD. This medium will probably be as small as today’s jump drive.
Technology is sure to evolve in the next 20 years, but I don’t think we have to worry about flying automobiles just yet.
The World In Twenty Years
The world in twenty years will be very different than it is today. Technology is changing so quickly, that what is new today will be obsolete then. In twenty years I think we will be driving cars that run on ethanol, not gasoline. Car companies are already working on this idea, and there are ethanol pumps in several states already. This would help the depleting sources of fossil fuels, and be better for the environment. Keys will also be different in twenty years. They will be nonexistent in the form we know them today. Retinal and fingerprint scanners can replace the key to homes, and electronic fobs can be coded into the lock’s computer to allow people with the correct electronic pattern in. Computers will not only have a huge storage capacity, but will be smaller than ever. CD’s, DVD’s, and thumb drives will have been replaced by yet another medium storage. Programs will be developed to recognize speech, and translate it to people who speak a different language. The computer will become the interpreter.
20 Years From Now, What Will Be Different?
All information will likely be stored and accessed through secure means, such as by our DNA, rental signature, etc. Everything will be tied intrinsically to the internet. Within twenty years, a lot of research into better and cleaner energy sources will have gone on, and the majority of power will probably come from natural means, such as tidal generators, etc. Nanotechnology may well have truly taken off, which would provide for some truly amazing creations, such as computers many thousands of times faster than those we have now. Most likely within twenty years the United States will have lost its dominant position within the world.
20 Years From Now
20 years from now, I believe we will have cars that drive themselves, everyone will have cell phones, and there will not be anymore paper books or newspapers. I believe everything will be digitalized. Schools in Atlanta are already making kids carry laptops to school and not use any paper books now. I also believe that there are going to be many new diseases coming to the world and that a cure for cancer will be found.
What Will Be Different In 20 Years?
I dont think that much will change in 20 years. There are many thingsthat are constantly changing now such as our in-home technology, butthings that affect the world wide nature of things will stay relativelythe same. Just think, oil companies are using the same equipment thatthey were using 30 years ago, when it was first invented and there doesnot seem to be any kind push towards anything new.
Also, we will stillbe using gasoline to run our cars because oil companies are greedy anddon't want to take a little bit of money to invest in new fuel systems. Because of large corporations stubbornness to spend any kind of money tomake our technology more environmentally and socially secure, thingswill tend to stay the same as they always have been. Granted technologywill be getting more advanced, but it will still basically do the samething that it does now, so no real change will take place.
Life In 2010
One could expect that life in 2010 could be quite different, since the advances in the last 50 years has been dramatic. However, one could expect a drift in the course of technology due to the increasing tensions between the US and its foreign enemies. Some funding could be reduced, in areas such as medical research, to fund securing our nations boarders. Yet financial limitations can lead to more important inventions, in areas of self dependence. One could believe that the US could will find a way to provide the majority of its own energy, instead of depending on imports. Research has been promising in proving that hydrocarbons are a renewable resources. Therefore, more efforts will be placed in creating US independence. Also, other forms such as E85 could become a better resource for US consumers. I believe the majority of currency exchanges will be done by electronic transfers alone, such as pay pass.
What Would Change In 20 Years?
In 20 years, nothing will change except for the bells and whistles. Iwould imagine some of the new toys that will be around will be quiteinteresting though. Of course, computers and electronics will becomeincreasingly small, perhaps even allowing cell phones to fit in a buttonon one's collar. Compact discs and DVDs will be obsolete and replacedby something that holds far more data. Memory chips will replace harddrives, and becoming increadibly inexpensive, will even be thereplacement for CDs and DVDs. One would simply grab their jump/thumbdrive and plug it into their stereo. The music industry will becompletely online and downloading music will be essentially the onlyway. I imagine cars will still be mostly dependent on gas, and thenation still mostly dependent on oil for energy, but it is likely thatthis dependence will be far less than what is seen today. Despite allthe advancements in technology that will occur over the next 20 years,everything will still pretty much be the same.
20 Years From Now… What Will Be Different?
In 20 years, inflation will have probably gone up by a large amount. In 20 years, you will need a college degree just to get a job at McDonalds. In 20 years, the Middle East will still be at war. Technology will begin to overcome the human though process. There will be a great improvement in medical technology, especially transplant technology. There will also be great improvement in the efficiency of alternate sources of fuel. Electronics will be so small you can hardly use them. They might even be implanted inside of you so there are no external electronics like cell phones or iPods. Tons of things will be different in 20 years!!!
What Will Be Different In The World 20 Years From Now?
Cars: I feel that cars will be keyless. They will be able to program a persons fingerprint or read a persons eyes and in order to open the car it has to be a perfect match. It will be able to program a couple of people. This could be a downfall though. What if you are lazy and you want your friend to go get something out your car. That would not be good.
Education:I think that education will continue to move along the path it is taking now. Just about everything is becoming computerized. Pretty soon, textbooks and classes and everything will be done over the internet.
Internet:Since, I thought that education was moving toward the internet, I felt that I should talk about the future of the internet. I will be great. I believe that someone will come up with something to stop spam and make the internet faster and better. This will allow us to do everything wirelessly. The downfall to this is everything has a glitch. Nothing man made is perfect.
Food:Hopefully food will get better. I like variety and right now in the world it’s kind of hard to experience things from other country beside Chinese food. I hope that fast food becomes better. I may eat out once a month but when I do it’s not all that great unless you specifically ask for your food to be “freshly cooked”.
Clothing:It amazes me how things like stirrup pants or skirts and tights have somewhat come back into style. I swear I don’t understand it. I hope that clothing will become less of the past and more of the future; also toward a dressier style. Don’t get me wrong. I like my jeans and t-shirt but some people take it too far.
Music:The music industry for R &B, Rap, and Hip hop music has been very disappointing lately. I listen to a variety of things when it comes to music and I can’t help but notice that every “new” song you hear on the radio is a knock off of an older song. People are not original. Hopefully people will get a more creative nature and decide to put in the time and effort it takes to excel in making your own beat, song, lyrics, etc.
Twenty Years From Now
Twenty years from now, I predict the advancements in technology will be so great that we can not imagine them now. Computers seem to be everywhere now, but they will only become a more integral part of everything we do. Computers will be smaller, more powerful, and they will be able to fit anywhere, which will be enable them to control just about everything. Computer software will be so advanced that it will almost "think" for you. This will help productivity and increase the ease of doing anything on a computer. The business world will see a huge change in the next 20 years with how people buy, sell, and pay for things. Mobile phones will become even more powerful than todays PDA's, as they will be able to function as wallets, phones, organizers, mini-computers, and who knows what else. There will be a greater emphasis on the environment which will be felt in all fields, from organic products to alternative fuel vehicles. The next 20 years will be an exciting time of change in technology.