Posts tagged Predictions at Switched

Posts with tag predictions

Downloads Will Replace TV Broadcasts by 2012, Says Internet Guru

by Lee Bains, posted Oct 7th 2008 at 2:35PM

Internet pioneer and Google vice president Vint Cerf believes that downloaded TV shows will soon take the place of traditional broadcasts, reports the UK's Daily Mail.

Referring to this potential transition as TV's "iPod moment," Cerf cites the increasing popularity of on-demand programming as evidence. While critics claim that the massive strain such high demand would place on the Internet would lead to its crashing, Cerf notes that the same criticisms were prevalent when the Internet first became widely -- and globally -- accessible.

All that being said, Cerf does allow that live broadcasts, which comprise 15-percent of the video we watch, will prove to be an impediment to a complete transition.

We certainly aren't going to settle for watching football after the fact. But, then again, the Internet might have us covered there, too. [From: Daily Mail]

Analyst Predicts Computer Mouse Obsolete in Five Years

by Donald Melanson, posted Jul 22nd 2008 at 11:19AM

As you may have noticed, we're not ones to put much stock in analysts' predictions, especially when they involve the demise of something as entrenched as the mouse in as little as five years. Still, that's the limb Gartner analyst Steve Prentice has walked out on, sort of.

While he first qualifies things a bit by saying that the mouse "works fine in the desktop environment but for home entertainment or working on a notebook it's over," he later seems to get considerably more definitive in stating that "the idea of a keyboard with a mouse as a control interface is the paradigm that I am talking about breaking down" (the keyboard, he says, is here to stay).

In place of the mouse, Prentice sees things like facial recognition systems, multi-touch, and even devices like OCZ's mind-reading Neural Interface Actuator taking over. Now, if you'll excuse us, we're going to start practicing thinking really hard so we don't get tripped up during the transition. [Via TrustedReviews]

Robots to Be Our Lovers By 2050, Not Just in Massachusetts

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jun 23rd 2008 at 6:09PM

Remember when you were a kid and you told your friends that you totally loved your new computer, and some little luddite looked at you and said, "So why don't you marry it?" There was that brief moment when you thought your Commodore 64 (C64) could, in fact, make a nice spouse. If not, move along.

If so, David Levy told participants at a conference last week that we will all be having loving relationships with robots by 2050, not just trysts in Massachusetts. He predicts that we'll have robots as sex toys within five years and true, deep relationships later on. Some robots already kiss, some seem to hate, but Levy says we'll have emotional relationships based on conversation by mid-century. Until that time, remember your C64, your first true love. She / he remembers you, you selfish jerk. [Source: Times of India]

Ballmer Sees the End of Print Media in Ten Years

by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 7th 2008 at 2:21PM

Apparently unfazed by his recent egg attack, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has now gone out on a limb and made some pretty bold predictions in a recent discussion with Washington Post editors, the biggest of which, by far, is his proclamation that he thinks there'll be "no media consumption left in 10 years that is not delivered over an IP network." So as not to leave any doubt about that, he also went to further clarify that that means there "will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper form. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form."

He did add, however, that if it was 14 or 8 years, it's "immaterial" to his fundamental point. Among the other nuggets dropped during the wide-ranging conversation, Ballmer says he has "no clue" what Google is up to and, just in case you've been dying to know, he says his favorite TV show is "Lost" (although he's not willing to "pay a buck" for it on iTunes just to get rid of the ads). Hit up the link below for the full interview, complete with video.

[Via Digg]

3-D Printers Come Home

by Tom Conlon, posted May 8th 2007 at 7:32AM

Though it sounds like something straight out of 'The Jetsons,' this year the first consumer 3-D printers will begin making their way into homes.

Capable of creating three-dimensional plastic objects from scratch, the technology paves the way for a future in which consumers will go online to buy things like toys, replacement parts or even toothbrushes, then simply print them out instead of waiting for delivery.

Printers capable of 3-D output are commonplace in industrial design, but at more than $100,000, they're out of reach for the average consumer. Later this year, however, a company named IdeaLab is introducing a model that will sell for $4,995. Another company, 3D Systems, will hawk its version of the home 3-D printer for $9,900. Both say prices will fall dramatically within a few years.

The printers work by melting down nylon powder, then creating models from the material layer by microscopic layer. Heat, light and chemicals are applied when necessary to shape and harden. After several hours of layering, a three-dimensional object has taken form.

While the applications for this technology are seemingly limitless, toymakers are particularly interested in the prospect of allowing gamers to create figurines based on their avatars from such online worlds as 'World of WarCraft' and 'Second Life.' EA has expressed similar interest for its massive online game 'Spore,' which comes out later this year.

As for us, we just can't wait until next year's Oscars to see what kind of replacement parts Joan Rivers prints out for her face.

From AOL News and The New York Times

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