Where Will Technology Take Us?

Ben Parr’s article on the future of the internet got me thinking.  Exactly how far will technology take us?  Not just the internet, though that is a big part of it, but all of technology.

Think about it for a second.  Thirty-five years ago the big breakthrough was using mainframe computers that took up whole floors of a business.  Now we have computers that fit in our pocket like the Blackberry and iPhone.  Where will we go from here?  Will we be wearing computers as part of our clothing like these.  (After some further research into that last sentence look what I found).

How much more can the internet evolve?  If you won’t need a traditional computer anymore, how will you get your internet?  As we become more and more dependent upon the “net” as integral parts of our lives our gadgets will have to adapt.  But what will those gadgets be like?

Every time I think about where technology is going the Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451 always comes to mind.  Though Bradbury wrote the book in 1947 some of the technology that is talked about are televisions the size of walls and wireless ear pieces used for audio and the phone.  When I see someone walking around with a Blue-tooth ear piece I can’t help but think of it.  And how can you not think about the wall sized television when you see the array of flat panel TVs that are 55 to 60 inches at Best Buy.

Ben Parr says in ten years we will be getting on phones and tablets to talk with friends but isn’t that what we are doing now?  Technology is changing every 24 months so in ten years we will be 5 times into the technology evolution.    Will we still be using our phones or will it be something else?  In twenty years what will it be?  Where do we go from here?

In Fahrenheit 451 the world burned books because they were “outdated” and technology in the way of television had prevailed.   All the while a war was brewing while everyone watched their wall sized televisions.  Could technology lull us into a state where books and free thought were no longer and all that mattered was your Facebook status and who was the newest American Idol?

Could technology take over our lives so much that we would become slaves to it constantly checking our Facebook and Twitter updates and texting makes our thumbs into nubs because of repetitive motion strain.

This post is meant to make you think about where technology was and where technology is now and where technology will go.  Are we nearing an end of something (we are coming up on 2012)?  How much more can technology evolve?  How much more can we?

What do you think?  Leave your thoughts in the comments section.  Let’s see where technology can go.