# What is going to be the next major revolutionary piece of technology. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 1, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620 "2009-04-01T19:47:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/21 "2009-04-02T15:06:40Z")
The Internet. Again. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/22 "2009-04-02T15:15:55Z")
Gotta go with robot monkey butlers. They would undoubtedly fling much less poo than regular monkey butlers. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/23 "2009-04-02T15:52:35Z")
Not revolutionary, but I think touchscreen computers are going to be very big. Not sure why they took so long. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/24 "2009-04-02T15:58:19Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Not revolutionary, but I think touchscreen computers are going to be very big. Not sure why they took so long. 'Cause your palms are greasy. I vote for the teleporter. Probably just a single atom or molecule at first, though. ---
**Author:** ![RunSilent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@RunSilent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RunSilent)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/25 "2009-04-02T16:14:38Z")
2020’s Style Death Ray ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/26 "2009-04-02T17:25:33Z")
The Sexbot. ---
**Author:** ![Telcontar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Telcontar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telcontar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/27 "2009-04-02T17:29:28Z")
> [@Sunrazor](#): > > I used to joke that, because of all the typing errors I made, I needed to have a SCSI port installed in my temple so I could directly interface with the computer. Now, I’m thinking that wireless interface between the human brain and a computer network will reduce the need for electrical energy to a fraction of what it is now. We can go online, receive all the media input we want, watch movies, even have one-on-one conversations without even talking and while we engage in pseudo-survival activities like gardening, baking bread and woodworking. > > Maybe I shouldn’t be wired up. I think this is one of the more plausible possibilities. One day people are going to have direct wired or wireless control over electronic devices. It’s going to require substantial progress both on the biological and software ends, but it’s “feasible” even now. Direct input from computers to the brain over a wired or wireless connection…now that’s hard. We’d probably have to stick some rather substantial amounts of hardware into the visual cortex to make that work. I’d love for us to discover the new energy source everyone is talking about, but I see no reason to expect we will. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/28 "2009-04-02T23:50:21Z")
This isn’t revolutionary technologically, we have the technology already in place. But the next cultural revolution is instant access to everything ever written or recorded in any digital medium, reproduced on any device at any time and at any place, all for free. Forget your iPod. Your iPod is a a good start, but the real answer is a mobile music player that can play anything. Or display any book, magazine, newspaper or website. Or any movie or TV show or short. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/29 "2009-04-03T01:12:21Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > This isn’t revolutionary technologically, we have the technology already in place. But the next cultural revolution is instant access to everything ever written or recorded in any digital medium, reproduced on any device at any time and at any place, all for free. > > Forget your iPod. Your iPod is a a good start, but the real answer is a mobile music player that can play anything. Or display any book, magazine, newspaper or website. Or any movie or TV show or short. Why would such an amazing piece of technology offer that kind of service for free? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/30 "2009-04-03T02:22:20Z")
It won’t be an amazing piece of technology. We already have the technology, you just combine an iPod with wireless internet, seach, and streaming audio/video. The content will be free because nobody will have to pay extra for it. Creators will get paid small amounts in various ways, but paying for content will be finished. Creators might not like it but there won’t be much of a choice absent world government that can block internet access from China, India, and Russia. Any digital file will be available within a few days illegally anyway, so why bother trying to make people pay for it? You’ll have to have another business model, like it or not. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/31 "2009-04-03T02:40:12Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > It won’t be an amazing piece of technology. We already have the technology, you just combine an iPod with wireless internet, seach, and streaming audio/video. The content will be free because nobody will have to pay extra for it. Creators will get paid small amounts in various ways, but paying for content will be finished. Creators might not like it but there won’t be much of a choice absent world government that can block internet access from China, India, and Russia. Any digital file will be available within a few days illegally anyway, so why bother trying to make people pay for it? You’ll have to have another business model, like it or not. If creators aren’t being paid for their work, many of them will stop creating. Artists have to eat just like the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/32 "2009-04-03T03:04:32Z")
The next amazing piece of technology will probably be something like bacon-flavoured chocolate. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/33 "2009-04-03T03:14:47Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > The next amazing piece of technology will probably be something like bacon-flavoured chocolate. 🙂 [baconlube](http://www.baconsaltblog.com/2009/03/our-newest-product.html) ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/34 "2009-04-03T03:27:36Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Not revolutionary, but I think touchscreen computers are going to be very big. Not sure why they took so long. I think there was a thread on this recently, but I side with those saying that touchscreens are fun to play around with but will never bee good for work (or even anything more than just surfing the web and maybe doing graphics type stuff). They’re just impractical. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/35 "2009-04-03T03:44:03Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > If creators aren’t being paid for their work, many of them will stop creating. Artists have to eat just like the rest of us. That’s certainly true. The ones that can’t figure out a business model under this scheme will have to pay the rent via day jobs and just produce their art for fun. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/36 "2009-04-03T04:48:40Z")
> [@manila](#): > > Non Fossil Fuelled Airliner? > > I believe it will take off from a treadmill [They’re already working on it](http://www.oilgae.com/blog/labels/Algae-Aviation-Fuel.html). They’re testing bio-diesel from algae. Not sure if there are tiny treadmills for the algae but hey, anything’s possible. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/37 "2009-04-03T05:06:23Z")
The next major revolutionary piece of technology will be a continuation of blended technologies. My car stereo has a USB port and I just bought a [USB reader](http://cgi.ebay.com/Thumb-USB-2-0-microSD-microSDHC-reader-1-2-4GB-8GB-16GB_W0QQitemZ120398862713QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item120398862713&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318)for an 8 gb MicroSD-HC card. the entire reader is the size of a nickle with the micro card installed. Basically this puts a hard drive in my car stereo that will hold 6 days of continuous music. When you consider 10 years ago it was CD changers I’m wondering what the next 10 years will bring. I remember when I paid $700 for 16 mb of memory for my computer. The first hard drive at work was 10 mb and it was the size of 2 bricks. That was 24 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/38 "2009-04-03T15:19:58Z")
These things are difficult to call. Remember that for thirty years people were expecting two-way video phones to be “the future.” Then, with little fanfare, cell phones went from being kind of a novelty in the late 90’s to ubiquitous just a few years later. My own gues is [nanosolar](http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/green/item_59.html) technology. I remember when I first heard of this, I though to myself “well it’s only a matter of time until we’re covering everything in this stuff.” ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/39 "2009-04-03T15:33:36Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I think there was a thread on this recently, but I side with those saying that touchscreens are fun to play around with but will never bee good for work (or even anything more than just surfing the web and maybe doing graphics type stuff). They’re just impractical. I think everyone that uses an iPhone may disagree, and surfing the web is a large percentage of home PC use. For a kitchen-type computer they’d be fine, especially with an attached keyboard that stows away when not in use. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/40 "2009-04-03T15:58:44Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > [They’re already working on it](http://www.oilgae.com/blog/labels/Algae-Aviation-Fuel.html). They’re testing bio-diesel from algae. Jatropha weed, too. Better yet would be aircraft fuels that don’t produce greenhouse gases, either, but there are no candidates that look like they’d ever be practical. Yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620.md?page=3)