# What is going to be the next major revolutionary piece of technology.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620>\
**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:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**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, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/41 "2009-04-03T16:06:26Z")

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> [@ElvisL1ves](#):
>
> 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.

The algae can be fed Co2 stripped from coal fired plants so it becomes something of a loop and diesel cars are more efficient so it cuts down on auto emissions too.

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**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/42 "2009-04-03T17:17:23Z")

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If autofabrication achieves the goal of becoming as easy and ubiquitous as desktop publishing, it will pose a revolutionary challenge to laws prohibiting illegal objects, just as the Internet and digitized information challenged the enforcement of copyrights. Imagine if you could produce the parts for an automatic rifle, or burglary tools as easily as people now make homemade shivs.

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**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/43 "2009-04-03T17:35:03Z")

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> [@MichaelQReilly](#):
>
> 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.

I use Skype all the time with my girlfriend and it’s technically a two-way video phone. I just use my computer and the internet to run it. She lives in NYC, I live in Chicago, and we have near daily face to face conversations.

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**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, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-to-be-the-next-major-revolutionary-piece-of-technology/491620/44 "2009-04-03T18:36:18Z")

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> [@interface2x](#):
>
> I use Skype all the time with my girlfriend and it’s technically a two-way video phone. I just use my computer and the internet to run it. She lives in NYC, I live in Chicago, and we have near daily face to face conversations.

Yeah, it’s finally happening, but my point was that often what we think is the next big thing isn’t; and that something none of us really expected just sort of happens.

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