The Next Big Thing..

[bloc]

I recently stumbled upon a discussion about whats the "Next Big thing", now that the net is well established and has gone past being the biggest thing since electricity. It was quite interesting - many answers were of course colored by what the contributors had as actual careers and jobs , but many predicted even things that were more global, more common. Things like nanotechnologies, moon travelling and breakthroughs in biological science.

Web 2.0 were mentioned..that name has been used so much its perhaps unclear what it is anymore, I sure am confused what it really is. But it seems to be about getting internet applications move towards a better experience for the users, through making web pages accessible and working uniform on all platforms. So far so good. As any web designer can tell you: its something you will encounter in any kind of web design or theme work for that matter, not to mention the merge between print and web.

But whats the next big thing really? Is it internet gadgets and new technologies, merging of mobile, broadcasting and gaming devices..or is it more mundane things? Personally I believe it will be one thing thats common to all, whether they got internet or not and its going to be something we take for granted. We won't even notice that it happended - just as we never noticed that money is opted out for electronic cards, and that you can't really do anything if the computer at your post-office isn't working. Or that you are easily spotted wherever you go by unknown cameras and devices, setup in every grocery store, gas-station or public building. Have we finally reached Orwell's 1984? "Not with a bang, but with a whisper" to lend a expression from another futuristic novel.

But back to topic: its transportation. And thereby the means to use it and run the things. New fuelsystems, hybrid cars, its already happening and it will just expand. And even with our increased awareness through internet (for some parts of the world) this will probably not even be noticed as such. it will be just another "thing" that we begin to use. But a few years ahead we might nod and say "yes, that was indeed the Next Big Thing".

Just like a true revolution.


Bloc

[Croco]

I And even with our increasd awareness through internet (for some the world) this will probably not even be noticed as such. it will be just another "thing" that we begin to use. But a few years ahead we might nod and say "yes, that was indeed the Next Big Thing".

you are right .

[Assistance]

personally I think teleportation is the next "big" thing
yes it is transportation, and has already been achieved on a minute scale

imagine

1 day all smf users can get to together to talk about the next release  

[bloc]

lol, that would be great.  

[Croco]

personally I think teleportation is the next "big" thing
yes it is transportation, and has already been achieved on a minute scale

imagine

1 day all smf users can get to together to talk about the next release 

that would be great and odd . 

[Assistance]

can u imagine this....Bloc ur old enough to remember LP's
and the kids these days with their Ipods and txt msg'n

are kids are gonna grow up and say.... you text message what? why didnt you just go there?

btw incase u thought i was BS'n about it already being done 'minute scale'
article from 2004

We are able to teleport in a deliberate way - that is, at the push of a button
Professor Rainer Blatt, University of Innsbruck

Personally, I see it doing more harm then good 

[NEMINI]

personally I think teleportation is the next "big" thing
yes it is transportation, and has already been achieved on a minute scale

imagine

1 day all smf users can get to together to talk about the next release 

I disagree, in fact I see it just the opposite.  The more people have broadband and the switchover to much faster fiberoptic broadband the more we'll see video conferencing for the masses.  My wife and I are currently on different continents for the next few months, we've been using MSN to do video calling every day.  I think as broadband grows and expends people will feel the need to actually move les and less.  With faster broadband comes better video, high framerates and better quality.  Twenty years from now we may very well have a majority of 'green cars' but far fewer people will need to use them in their daily lives.  

[bloc]

Sure..in the big cities. But in the bigger areas of population, the in-between areas, suburbs if you like, transportation is still going to be a thing: you can't send the kids to school or daycare through video, having groceries delived by video or make love through video(thsu having to go somewhere to actually meet them) lol.

Video/internet is another aspect that will increase, but thats a modern society thing primary(still, but will catch up) , transport touches everyone from the poor chinese farmer to Bill gates.

[NEMINI]

transport touches everyone from the poor chinese farmer to Bill gates.

Exactly, so how can it be the next big thing when its already been there for years?  So what if it uses different fuel the time it takes will not change much.  To be the next big thing in transport you'd have to find a way to cut down transport times, alternate fuels do not do this.

[bloc]

The faster the better you mean?

You are completely missing my point. "The next big thing" can be anything, it doesn't have to be new gadgets, in fact the new-gadget-a-week has began to slow down - or at least the interest for it. What I think will be the most important seen in hindsight - alwasy in hindsight - is what changes most peoples lives in the nearby future. And it won't be transport systems only the rich can afford, like flying in heli-cars or whatever. Its everyday things - like the transformation of using real money to using cards only.

But I could be wrong.

[NEMINI]

but what does changing fuel types actually change?  it helps the enviroment sure, thats a good thing, but other then that it changes nothing in daily life.

[bloc]

lol, I am not talking about just changing to another gas type - I am seeing gas stations turning into power stations, or "re-charge" stations - with all that will imply, as hybrid cars probably will need both electricity and possibly other fuel systems.

That will have an effect as the internet explosion had - in the sense that its something slowly becoming widespread and everyday common, and at the same time being both innovative and building on already existing things. The net have been here since many decades already, but its gone from BBS on selected spots to every home in the world in leaps and bounds, always building and enhancing existing things...

Thats why I wrote that it won't be perceived as a true "revolution" , only afterwards will it be seen as it.

Of course this may all be just random ramblings and nothing else, so time will tell I guess.

[Assistance]

  My wife and I are currently on different continents for the next few months, we've been using MSN to do video calling every day.

so you would rather see your wife faster on a screen then see her in person?

"1 sec so I can fax/email/etc this to you"
or
"here it is"...as you hand it to the other person

as Bloc said, the net has been here for awhile now, and all new changes are not going to drastically change the "revolution" of its being ............. yes wow its faster, yes wow its clearer.

but that wont compare to the actually physical presence.


just to touch back on something you said Bloc
you mention how the "new" thing will be viable for the rich and the poor
I can't see anything other then something to do with food source being avaible to the poor as quick as the rich, in making it a revolution.

the poor do not have cars, some of them don't even have a house that would have power.
so any energy source (other then my theory of trapping lighting as a resource) would not help the poor. .... unless that is the "big" thing to come, which it would be.

and yes this is just random ramblings too

[NEMINI]

so you would rather see your wife faster on a screen then see her in person?

as Bloc said, the net has been here for awhile now, and all new changes are not going to drastically change the "revolution" of its being ............. yes wow its faster, yes wow its clearer.

but that wont compare to the actually physical presence.

As the framerates have increased to useable levels web cam usage is being to explode and not be so niche.  Like the net 'shrunk the world' and put people in touch who never would have been before, cams can have the same effect, and to a bigger degree, because text lacks emotion.  cams can convey what people mean in a much better way the words that often get taken the wrong way.



if Bloc was talking about multiplying the speed of transportation then I'd agree it could be the next big thing, but changing fuel sources and the resulting infrastructure changes that come with it, still changes nothing except which pump/plug you pull your car up to, you'll still have the same speed limits on your roads so you won't get there any faster.