I’m trying to think what the kids of tomorrow could do with new technology that would seem distasteful to their elders. Let’s face it, when I see a teen with a mohawk, I think “kiddo, that’s a 25 year old statement, you’re not covering new ground.”
So far, the only thing I can come up with is: goatees on women. It’s not natural, it’d go against the grain of this generation’s hairless trends, and would take a technological breakthrough to accomplish (think a testosterone roll on applicator that let’s the user control what gets the hormonal boost, rather than dealing with all those other nasty side effects all-over application would cause.)
So, picture that hot teen barely legal cheerleader…with a van-dyke.
Your turn, how will the kids of tomorrow make you shake your head in disgust and wonder?
You’ve mislabeled this thread – you mean Pop Trends of the Future that Will Annoy Us As Older Folk.
– Really annoying music. This one’s easy to predict – each generation comes up with music that totally annoys the preceding generation. I have no idea what the next iteration will be. Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music clones? Sampled fingernails on blackboards and rubbing balloons? A Cherry Sisters Revival?
–Really stupid Fashion Trend – another staple. I have no idea what. Fashion elbow pads in fluorescent colors? Brightly colored Spandex ear covers? Headbands worn around the nose? Pants with a neat hole cut out of the seat that’s bisected by the gluteal cleft?
— Incomprehensible (to old folks) group games based on instant communication devices. Something beyond “Flash Crowds”. multi-player social games using texts and twitter that anyone not participating in will be regarded as hopelessly clueless.
Ah…“Now that’s what I call music:726 Binaural beats that vibrate your fillings”
But what you list is currently possible, I’m thinking about what can’t happen yet. Case in point: cheap laser pointers. That fad passed, so we mostly don’t need to deal with the anklebiter shooting them at the movie screen anymore. But that happened directly as a tehnological gain.
The whole “social networking that tells people where you physically are” trend makes me want to scream. You better believe I disabled that feature on Facebook.
Using a fully/mostly automated economy to not work while still living well, and worst of all not feel guilty about it. Given how as far as I can tell most people in America don’t seem to regard work as a necessity to keep society running but as a moral imperative in its own right I bet that would freak out many, many of us.
Not original to me: Using augmented reality glasses or implants to put a pretty illusionary “skin” over everything rather making them look good in the real world. Basically, living with dull utilitarian or even shoddy living spaces, clothes, etc and just making them look good - to them. Or just walking around naked with the machines proving the appearance of fancy clothes to anyone with the glasses/implants. Especially extreme with implants since you can go the full sensory route. Then you have them doing things like losing interest in knowing how to cook; they just order some tasteless generic People Chow and make it have whatever illusionary taste and texture they like.
Willingly using brain-machine links to give up their individuality in some group mind.
Beating, torturing and “murdering” flesh-and-blood style androids for fun; mindless meat puppets controlled by computer so they don’t actually feel anything, but still…
My guess: at least in the United States, if the level of security cameras and nanny-style devices (for example, GPS-based devices in rental cars that determine if you’re speeding) reaches UK levels.
Also, interstitial pop-ups on television shows, making recommendations based on your viewing habits as recorded by a cable or satellite television company. “Other shows you’ll like include . To record on your DVR, press the green button.”
If paranoia over “stranger danger” continues, expect to see GPS ankle bracelets or even implants in children.
Have you noticed just how much of the Grocery store is devoted to pre-prepared food? You don’t even need VR glasses! Just hold the box in front of your face while you eat your Tamales with Refritos (no trans fats!) and Rice…because there’s no WAY you’re gonna get that glop to look like the serving suggestion.
The end of money- and I don’t mean just cash, I mean the end of any universal medium of trade. Everything will be gift cards, frequent flier miles, “good-for-one-free” coupons, valued-customer points, etc. Just buying shit will be like haggling in a bazaar in medieval Mumbai in sign language.
I figured there’d just be a calculation somewhere with your Burnrate and your Earnrate and when one exceeded the other, the Experian/TransUnion Army will come and take you away and turn you into soylent green.
The recliner/toilet from Idiocracy. Even if its use was limited to the incontinent, it would still be a…dare I say it…a watershed in the way we think about furniture and the home.
Better designer drugs… not sure I know how they’re going to be ‘better’, and not sure I want to know.
…Undetectable, I suppose, with no lasting side effects - though people will still find a way to become dependent on them, I’d guess. Or, say, a drug that pushes the boundaries of date rape; the other person is both not sure what happened, and not sure they weren’t consenting.