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A telco executive's astute predictions "Just what form the future telephone will take is, of course, pure speculation. Here is my prophecy: In its final develo

A telco executive's astute predictions "Just what form the future telephone will take is, of course, pure speculation. Here is my prophecy: In its final development, the telephone will be carried about by the individual, perhaps as we carry a watch today. It probably will require no dial or equivalent and I think the users will be able to see each other, if they want, as they talk. Who knows but it may actually translate from one language to another?" - Mark Sullivan, April 9, 1953

dougmwne 5y ago
Of all our technology, I truly think the smartphone is one of the most impressive and futuristic things ever invented. It’s the kind of thing Star Trek thought was hundreds of years in the future and that most sci-fi failed to imagine. It is individually transformative in a way that space flight will probably never be. Our information tech is likely to continue racing forward and this current moment will look analog in comparison.
- intrasight 5y ago
  The future may be analog - if you look far enough. We are analog.
  - hackernudes 5y ago
    Or maybe the universe is digital if you could look small enough!
- ajmurmann 5y ago
  There was a great scene in Station 11 which is partially set after civilization-destroying pandemic in which one character who was born before the pandemic explains to someone who was born after how ride sharing apps worked on a cell phone. It's magic of you describe it from scratch. The tiny device has access to a detailed mail of the entire planet, knows where you are and then a car shows up to transport you to your destination without exchanging and tangible money or even talking about it. It's also telling that older SciFi gets this all wrong. In Asimov's Lucky Starr the protagonist had a space ship that can travel through the outer layers of the sun and someone had a dwelling on an hollowed out asteroid. Tables use energy fields for easier cleaning. Yet, the ships board computer doesn't even have a display and needs to print everything.
  - dougmwne 5y ago
    Asimov envisioned printers on spaceships and every evening I put on a pair of goggles that lets me interact with an omnidirectional volumetric display with millimeter accurate head and hand tracking. I think we are starting to outrun our own imagination.
    - intrasight 5y ago
      Someone clearly is still imaging the stuff - and then building it!

dougmwne 5y ago

Of all our technology, I truly think the smartphone is one of the most impressive and futuristic things ever invented. It’s the kind of thing Star Trek thought was hundreds of years in the future and that most sci-fi failed to imagine. It is individually transformative in a way that space flight will probably never be. Our information tech is likely to continue racing forward and this current moment will look analog in comparison.

intrasight 5y ago
The future may be analog - if you look far enough. We are analog.
- hackernudes 5y ago
  Or maybe the universe is digital if you could look small enough!
ajmurmann 5y ago
There was a great scene in Station 11 which is partially set after civilization-destroying pandemic in which one character who was born before the pandemic explains to someone who was born after how ride sharing apps worked on a cell phone. It's magic of you describe it from scratch. The tiny device has access to a detailed mail of the entire planet, knows where you are and then a car shows up to transport you to your destination without exchanging and tangible money or even talking about it. It's also telling that older SciFi gets this all wrong. In Asimov's Lucky Starr the protagonist had a space ship that can travel through the outer layers of the sun and someone had a dwelling on an hollowed out asteroid. Tables use energy fields for easier cleaning. Yet, the ships board computer doesn't even have a display and needs to print everything.
- dougmwne 5y ago
  Asimov envisioned printers on spaceships and every evening I put on a pair of goggles that lets me interact with an omnidirectional volumetric display with millimeter accurate head and hand tracking. I think we are starting to outrun our own imagination.
  - intrasight 5y ago
    Someone clearly is still imaging the stuff - and then building it!