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will make it possible to transfer the images as easily as we send emails today.
The functionality and power of handheld devices will soon approach what were
recently considered to be very powerful computers. The story goes on.
Everything will be smaller, faster, cheaper and larger in capacity.
Wires and cables connect today’s world of computers. Starting with the wires and
cables surrounding our PC at home to the briefcase or backpack full of cables we
carry with us to the Internet itself there are wires and cables everywhere. That is
changing. A new technology called Bluetooth will soon allow devices that are
within roughly twenty-five feet of each other to recognize each other and transfer
data back and forth using radio signals. No wires. Walk in the house with your
notebook computer and music you downloaded from the Internet automatically
gets transferred to your home digital sound system. Wireless Internet antennas
will soon be built into the case of notebook computers and “connectivity” will be
available to you in virtually all hotels, airports, train stations, and public areas.
Changes are also happening in the software arena. A new form of computer
software is beginning to change the way computers will be programmed and who
will write the programs. The best example of this is Linux, software written by a
young Scandinavian student, which will have a dramatic impact in the years
ahead. For software, like hardware, we haven’t seen anything yet compared to
what we are going to see.
If you look further out, say fifty years, the possibilities are mind-boggling. Raj
Reddy, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, discussed the
impact of infinite memory and bandwidth at a presentation in late 2000. He talked
about capabilities such as accident-avoiding cars, universal access to information
and knowledge, entertainment on demand, learning on demand, telemedicine
and geriatric robotics. He even discussed more esoteric capabilities such as
teleportation (“Beam Me up Scotty”), time travel and immortality becoming
possible. Obviously these raise a number of social and ethical questions.
Professor Reddy says that as we find ways to transform atoms to bits, that is,
substitute information for space, time and matter, that many of the constants of
our universe “will assume a new meaning and will change the way we live, work
and govern ourselves. Some of us will have superhuman capabilities, like getting
a month's worth of work done in a day.”
Customer choice is power.
What does the incredible rush of new technology mean for us as people? In
many ways the Internet is about the massive transfer of power from institutions to
people. I am not talking about anarchy, people marching in the streets, or
Tianamen Square in any way. I am talking about the empowerment of people
who now have the ability to click a mouse button or mobile phone button or PDA
button to express their desire to engage in entertainment, e-commerce or
education or to communicate and collaborate globally. It is the power of a click.
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