Today , the New York Times ask seven enterpriser and tech executive aboutwhat ’s in store for the time to come . It ’s a riveting shot of futuristic thinking in 2014 . But these are n’t just the dreaming of tomorrow — most of them are the dreams of yesterday ’s tomorrows as well .
This is n’t to say that all of these predictions are doomed to fail . In fact , most of them seem quite plausible . But it ’s authoritative to put them in a historic linguistic context anytime we ’re prognosticating . Nobody can omen the future with rank certainty , and that ’s actually what makes futurism so playfulness .
Below I ’ve hold a small sample of the2014 predictionspublished at the New York Times and dropped in a few exchangeable predictions from history . aboveboard , this list does n’t even set about to scratch the aerofoil . But it ’s a admonisher that we ’ve been promised many of these things before .
What far-off technology will be commonplace in a decade?
2014 : “ Personalized medicament . Imagine a alone drug that ’s printed for you and your condition base on your individual gene sequencing . ” [ Reid Hoffman ]
1997 : “ Around 2012 , a cistron therapy for cancer is perfected . Five years later , almost one - third of the 4,000 known genetic diseases can be avoided through hereditary use . ” [ July 1997 issue ofWiredmagazine ]
1996 : “ In fact , it could be potential within 10 years — and for certain within 20 — for you to carry around a smart board comprise your complete inherited makeup . You would impart it with you when visit your doctor , and the medico would use it to prescribe medications or other treatments to meet your own specific need . This is one model of the overarching vogue of technology becoming more personalized in the decade onwards . ” [ July - August 1996 The Futurist magazine ]
Which industry will tech put out of business next?
2014 : “ Higher education . ” [ Ev Williams ]
1935 : “ We will undoubtedly have lecture of every imaginable kind present to us right in our homes , when hardheaded television arrives , possibly a year or two off . Mathematics , geometry , and dozens of other subjects will be ‘ apple pie ’ so far as broadcast them through the line by radio is occupy , when goggle box is available for the use , compared to the present situation when it is quite airy to seek giving lectures on geometry or other subjects , which really necessitate diagram or pictures to make them clear to the uninitiated . ” [ April 1935Short Wave Craftmagazine ]
What technology will seem antiquated in a decade?
2014 : “ Keys . ” [ Sebastian Thrun ]
1996 : “ sack will seldom jingle in 10 age as credit - card - sized fresh menu begin to substitute cash , as well as headstone . ” [ July - August 1996 The Futurist magazine ]
1993 : “ Have you ever opened doors with the audio of your voice ? ” [ David Fincher’sAT&T ad campaign“You Will ” ]
1982 : “ You ’ll be ” talking to your kitchen range , babble to your room access lock chamber , talking to everything . ' ” [ fantast talking about the year 2000 in the January 10 , 1982New York Times ]
What is the next issue to undergo a sea change in social acceptance?
2014 : “ We ’ll scorn factory beast husbandry . ” [ Ev Williams ]
1982 : ” You will definitely see this returning to a more human scale beau monde . It will be more effective and do things locally . It wo n’t make sense to buy Wonder Bread bake in Illinois . ” [ Futurist talking about the class 2000 in the January 10 , 1982New York Times ]
1914 : “ As animal food will have been totally abandoned before the end of this century , the rubble of the kitchen will be much more manageable than at present tense . ” [ Anaconda Standardnewspaper January 11 , 1914 ]
What is tech’s role in reducing income inequality?
2014 : “ There is a bow wave of uncounted billions of dollars of benevolent contributions that will unfold over the next 10 to 20 eld from Silicon Valley . ” [ Marc Andreessen ]
1997 : “ By about 2000 , the United States economy is doing so well that the taxation coffers begin to tumefy . This not only solves the deficit trouble but give the administration ample resource to venture on new initiatives . No longer forced to nitpick over which government program to skip , political leaders emerge with new initiatives to serve solve on the face of it intractable societal problems , like drug addiction . No one talks about regress to vainglorious government , but there ’s mickle of room for advanced approach to applying the pool resources of the entire society to profit the public at large . And the government , in practiced conscience , can in the end give revenue enhancement baseball swing . A spirit of generosity returns . The vast majority of Americans who see their prospects rebel with the expanding economy are truly sympathetic to the troth of those pull up stakes behind . ” [ July 1997 consequence ofWiredmagazine ]
effigy : representative from the 1958 Disneyland goggle box sequence Magic Highway USA
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