This is one of nearly a thousand foresight statements shared by people from around the world. To return to the Voices of the People home page or to refine your search, click here.
Name: Jennifer Deland
From: Massachusetts
Bio: I have wanted a computer ever since I was 5 - long before they were invented.
Area of Expertise: Advocate/Voice of the People
Topic: Communication
Headline: Look Ma, no mouse!
Nutshell: People will be able to access the internet while walking down the street.
Vision:People who don’t, and even some who do, direct interface, will complain about the practice as dangerous and anti-social, the way people complain about cell-phone users today. It will be common, but not universal. Certainly an important business tool – and how could a lawyer practice without it? There will be jokes of which the punchline will be, "He had to reboot his brain."
Brain-augmenting computers will also exist, but will be the province of technophiles. For most people, the main problem with the brain is not its processing speed, but its slowness at retrieving information. Online, that is not a problem. You may wish to download information, in case of rare but occasional episodes of network failure – and for that, the augmenting hard drive is a useful luxury.
Some choose to "live in the net instead of the world." In the same sense that some live in fantasies today. In the literal sense this will be impossible. An online identity is a supplement to, not a replacement for, a real one.
Date Submitted: November 11, 2004
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