Internet Technology in 25 Years. Have You Thought About it?

Written by Elisabeth on May 31, 2011

It is intriguing and exciting to imagine the role technology will play in our lives 25 years from now. I grew up fascinated by the technological wonders depicted in TV shows and movies like Star Trek, The Jetsons, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars to name a few. The iRobot Roomba doesn't quite compare to the Jetsons robot maid Rosie, but just wait another 25 years.

In "25 Ways IT will Morph in the Next 25 Years", Carolyn Duffy Marsan, at Network World, has painted a mind-boggling world with the help of some industry experts such as Dave Evans, Chief Futurist at Cisco, and Marek Rusinkiewicz, vice president of research for Telcordia.

Some things aren’t as surprising as others, like "Your smartphone will have the power of a supercomputer. “ Others are dreamy, like "Storage will be cheap enough that you can record every minute of your life." Think of it, no more he said, she said. Don't remember, well just look at the ‘whatever we'll call it then’ to see what happened.

Some advances are down right creepy like "Cameras will be everywhere" and "Robots will outnumber humans."  These are the makings of the sci fi movies that scared the bejesus out of me. The potential for fighting street crime will be huge so I'm sure crime will just keep migrating to the Internet and hack it's way into our everything in 25 years (since everything will be in cyber space).

I can't wait until the 3-D telepresence systems emerge, where you can touch and see and smell what's going on, as described by Rusinkiewicz. While Elliott shares the idea of an environment permeated by small machines, filled with sensors and actuators which I don’t find 100% comforting. I'm sure he has read some of the articles or reports that claim cell phones can possibly increase cancer risks. Will those kinds of issues be resolved by then? If so, what will the new ones be and who will protect the public?

As much as a part of me is fascinated and excited about the possibilities for positive change that advances in technology offer, there’s another part that is as concerned about health, human rights, privacy and legal issues that will come part and parcel. I like to envision instant communication and collaboration giving power to the people to be aware and take action to protect themselves. However as we saw in the Middle East, it's easy to shut down the systems and stop communication. Maybe it won't be that easy to stop in 25 years?

Marsan’s article definitely gives one much to think about. I recommend giving it a read and really picturing you life in 25 years.