2013 is just about here and I really can't believe it. So much has changed, for the best and for the worst, and that is what makes me look forward to the new year. An article in Wired magazine inspired this post and new blog. It was about technology and how we are now able to program devices to turn on and operate when we want to, when we aren't even in the house - just touch a button on your smart phone while you are riding home and your jacuzzi turns on and will be hot and ready by the time you pull in. This scares me and intrigues me.
The last line of the article is what really sticks with me, even now: "In the next few years, more and more of our stuff will start talking. I can't wait to see what it says," - Clive Thompson. My phone talks to me and I think it's pretty cool. Could you imagine getting in your car and saying, "Take me to work," - not even telling them where you work, just saying "work" and it knows. Pretty sweet. although the Stephen King fan in me can come up with a dozen ways that wouldn't be cool and could go way wrong. I mean, what if you are en route somewhere and the car decides to take over and won't listen to you? A little crazy, but 20 years ago, telling your car to take you somewhere would be considered crazy, too.
I don't really think all this will happen in 2013 but I could see it someday in the near future, like 5 years - I mean, look at our cell phones and TVs. This article, Sensors Everywhere, by Clive Thompson in Wired's December 2012 issue, helped me to look forward to the new year and to think about it in a different way. Before it was just another year added on to my life, making me 29 instead of 28, waaah waaah waaah... But now, it's one more year of cool gadgets and new technologies to delight and intrigue me and you. I personally can't wait.
What do you think about technology? Does it scare you or intrigue you, or both? Answer my poll!
