What is on the Horizon? Or better yet, what is on the Horizon Report? I found our F2F session on Wednesday very interesting and somewhat scary. The "Elevator" pitches were very interesting. The years between now and 3 years in the future does not concern me, and many of the tools and applications such as Cloud Computing, and Geo Everything is already here (or quickly merging into our lives). What scares me is the Big Brother aspect of this technology which no one seemed to address. What happened to personal privacy? Did the people get any say on this? If your digital camera, and cell phone will always know you location it's quite conceivable that others (perhaps with a less that honorable agenda) will have access to this information. The personal web is an interesting concept, but I still don't completely understand it. Isn't Google already doing some of this by scanning our emails and using key words to place advertisements? Semantic-Aware Applications sounds great, but there will always be room for error. I once heard that the boys and girls at google want computers to perform like they did on the old Star Trek Episodes... "Computer", "Working"....Just ask it a question and you will receive the answer. I think smart objects are already emerging-for example our school ID/Lunch (smartcard). I remember reading Bill Gates' book The Road Ahead, an how he talked about this type of technology. In fact I believe he designed a "smart house" that will monitor and adjust it's own envirnment (lighting, music, art work) based upon where guests are located in the house (scaning their preferences from the smartcard in their possession). What I do not want is for everyone in the world to be "chipped" with RFID. Technology....tool to make life easier and more meaningful? Or are we inviting Big Brother to solve our problems and control us? I know that there has to be a balance between security and personal freedom, but in an idealistic world, it would be great if we could use technology to unite people rather than building invisible walls. Sometimes I love technology. At other times, it scares me and I want to move to the mountains and be completely disconnected from anything relating to today's current digital technology. No cell phones, no emails, no hastles; just a fishing rod, book, and cold drink. I wonder how others feel about what is On the Horizon?
What is on the Horizon? Or better yet, what is on the Horizon Report? I found our F2F session on Wednesday very interesting and somewhat scary. The "Elevator" pitches were very interesting. The years between now and 3 years in the future does not concern me, and many of the tools and applications such as Cloud Computing, and Geo Everything is already here (or quickly merging into our lives). What scares me is the Big Brother aspect of this technology which no one seemed to address. What happened to personal privacy? Did the people get any say on this? If your digital camera, and cell phone will always know you location it's quite conceivable that others (perhaps with a less that honorable agenda) will have access to this information. The personal web is an interesting concept, but I still don't completely understand it. Isn't Google already doing some of this by scanning our emails and using key words to place advertisements? Semantic-Aware Applications sounds great, but there will always be room for error. I once heard that the boys and girls at google want computers to perform like they did on the old Star Trek Episodes... "Computer", "Working"....Just ask it a question and you will receive the answer. I think smart objects are already emerging-for example our school ID/Lunch (smartcard). I remember reading Bill Gates' book The Road Ahead, an how he talked about this type of technology. In fact I believe he designed a "smart house" that will monitor and adjust it's own envirnment (lighting, music, art work) based upon where guests are located in the house (scaning their preferences from the smartcard in their possession). What I do not want is for everyone in the world to be "chipped" with RFID. Technology....tool to make life easier and more meaningful? Or are we inviting Big Brother to solve our problems and control us? I know that there has to be a balance between security and personal freedom, but in an idealistic world, it would be great if we could use technology to unite people rather than building invisible walls. Sometimes I love technology. At other times, it scares me and I want to move to the mountains and be completely disconnected from anything relating to today's current digital technology. No cell phones, no emails, no hastles; just a fishing rod, book, and cold drink. I wonder how others feel about what is On the Horizon?
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