This apparently genuine Ladies Home Journal list of future predictions from 1900 got me idly wondering something I'm sure we all have sometimes: what form of supergadgetry comes next?
Technology revolutions tend towards extremes... we get obsessed with making things as teeny tiny as possible, but also like to make grand statements. Then practicality intervenes: how small, for example, can a screen get before it's rendered completely unwatchable?
So where are we going to be in 2107 (no, not 3007 for those of you doing some enthusiastic calculations)? What will 100 years of gadgetry have to show for itself? Here are some suggestions from the Shiny team...
Prediction #1: Injections are the way forward. We are already seeing cases where fine work with a needle is removing the need for invasive surgery so both healthcare and nutrition will be delivered through a point.
Prediction #2: The cyborg is coming (and it's not Kevin Warwick). From fingertip-embedded chip and PIN to earplants for communication and entertainment everything we need to live our daily lives will be inside our own bodies.
Prediction #3: Vintage fashion and technology irony will be all the rage. While callow youth clip a 2007 iPod nano to themselves to show their vintage credentials, true afficionados will have a tape-playing Sony Walkman on proud display, rubbish headphones and all.
Prediction #4: Teleportation will be a must. An online purchase will simply mean downloading the object to your living room (and cities will have expanded into the bedrock and under the sea by then). For those who still prefer to travel by "traditional" means, flights across the world will be reduced to under an hour building on 100-year-old space shuttle technology. The food injections will still leave you feeling slightly sick.
Prediction #5: We will finally get the Hover Board. Honest.
[Thanks to Shiny Shiny supporter Ashley Goldstein for the MetroAlex image]
From: Five reasons Foursquare will be this year's Twitter