Emerging Technologiesto Watch Ballistic Magnetoresistance (BMR)-based drives: 50+

DVDs on a hard drive the size of a credit card Wireline: 10GB Ethernet (802.3ae) approved by IEEE in

2002 Wireless

“3G” cell phones: 11.4 million by 2003; 66.4 million by 2005; 250 million+ by 2007

TI expects single-chip cell phones by end of 2004 WIFI continues to expand in corporate and community

settings Radio Frequency ID (RFID) – new “Auto ID” standards Biometrics: face, fingerprints, hand geometry,

handwriting, iris, retinal, vein and voice Network Services Architecture-bases systems (UDDI,

WSDL, XML, and more) E-paper, Smart-paper, Flexible Displays

Standing At the Crossroads Variable-Price Vending Machines at Amusement

Parks Explosion in e-mail (2002: 31 billion/day, 2006:

60 billion/day) By 2010, over 27 million e-workers in European

Union (est. 3 million in 2000) Online consumer sales ($1.5 billion/week in late

August 2002) continuing to accelerate Households paying e-Bills to reach 52 million by

2006 (up from 18 million in 2001) Smart-Paper, wireless signs in department

stores and elsewhere Computerized, implanted, drug-delivery chips

Words of Wisdom Clinging to the Past and Present:

“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons” (Popular Mechanics, 1949)

“640K ought to be enough for anybody.” (Bill Gates, 1981)

Seeking the Future: "At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future,

tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past."   -- Count Maurice Maeterlink

Life is what's coming, not what was.

Through the Looking Glass… WFS Technology Timeline

2005: Retinal implants linked to video

cameras 100 teraflop computers All patients tagged (RFID) in hospitals Voice synthesis quality up to human

standards 80% of U.S. homes have PCs

Through the Looking Glass… WFS Technology Timeline 2010:

25% of TV celebrities are synthetic All government services delivered electronically

(2008) Optical neurocomputers mimic brain functions Electronic supercomputers as fast as human

brain First Net War fought between cybercommunities Effective prediction of most natural disasters Emotionally responsive toys & robots (2006)

Through the Looking Glass… WFS Technology Timeline

2015: Satellite location devices implanted into

pets 3-D videoconferencing Desktop computer as fast as human

brain ID cards replaced by biometric scanning DNA computer

Through the Looking Glass… WFS Technology Timeline

2020: Machine knowledge exceeds human

knowledge (2017) Electronic life forms given basic rights Only 15% of deaths worldwide due to

infectious diseases Sensors widely used in countryside to monitor

environment Computers linked to biological sensory organs Reservations required to use some key roads Computer-enhanced dreaming

Through the Looking Glass… WFS Technology Timeline

2025: Fully functioning artificial eyes Learning superseded by transparent

interface to smart computers Robots surpass developed-world

population VR becomes popular entertainment in

nursing homes Holographic TV