Well, at least the guys at Microsoft Office Labs do given this 5 minute long, though strangely soothing, video of their vision of the world we'll live in by 2019. Despite it being from Microsoft Office, there doesn't appear to be an excel sheet in sight!
If you've seen any of the old Microsft Surface videos, then much of this touch driven world won't be too unfamiliar but it also looks like someone likes using their Wii in Microsoft given the number times people 'flick' data from one device to another. I especially like their view for the paper of the future that comes up towards the end (now if Press media owners could just fix that trust thing then they'd be flying!).
One obvious question is whether Microsoft really believe that we'll still be using iPhone style devices in a decades' time? Having discussed this with Toby, he's suggested that maybe this is simply a case that we don’t imagine the future at all, we just project an idealised present forwards. high point
A final observation is that is looks very quiet in 2019. The plane is pretty much empty (will fuel costs mean only the super rich can afford to fly?) and the concourse that the guy is walking through is utterly devoid of life. Is this a post nuclear holocaust vision of the world…or maybe post Zombie attack? Futurism tends to over-emphasise technology trends, and underestimate social trends. So no reference in the Microsoft film to a world brought to its knees by ecological collapse and religious wars (though this isn’t a big surprise…).
I still feel somewhat cheated that we never got our jetpacks and spacehome like The Jetsons suggested but placing this disappointment to one side, if even half of the stuff in the video comes to fruition I'll be a happy little geek! Check it out, at the very least, the soothing tunes will calm you down.
Bryan
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