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COMPUTERS IN YOUR LIFE TOMORROW

Do You Have a Crystal Ball?

Well, if you do have a crystal ball, we'd certainly like to borrow it sometime. The simple fact of the matter is that no one can predict the future with any real consistency, especially with respect to technology.

However, we can make some statements regarding the future of technology in general. For example, we know that future technologies will begin to incorporate more of your senses (speech for example), just as we discussed in Chapter 9. We also know that complete and high-speed wireless communications are just around the corner. But how those will come about and exactly when is a mystery.

This Life-Long Learning Module will take you on a whirlwind tour of what we think the future holds for technology. More importantly, we want to alert you to how the future of technology will impact your personal life, the life of business, and your career.

We call these Life-Long Learning Modules because we want you to visit them long after you've completed your computer class. The content in this particular module will change frequently, and perhaps dramatically. Book mark it ( www.mhhe.com/i-series ) and drop back in for a visit from time to time.

BIG TODAY -- HOW SMALL TOMORROW?

Technology today is still relatively "big." Although you may think that a PDA that weighs less than a pound is small, tomorrow's PDAs will be about the size of a credit card and weigh about the same amount. Sound too good to be true? Not so -- technology tomorrow may become so small that you won't even be aware of its existence. What's even more important is that those "hard to see" computers will process billions and billions of instructions in a single second.

HERE TODAY -- NOWHERE TOMORROW?

We still live in a world of physical boundaries -- homes, states, and even countries. Of course, technologies such as the Web have helped eliminate many of those boundaries. But we have a long way to go. Imagine living in a world where location doesn't matter, a world in which you can run the world's largest organization from your garage or in a wheat field in Kansas. Imagine, too, a world where language limitations are no longer an issue -- it's coming sooner than you think. Come with us and explore a "locationless" tomorrow.

INTERNET TIME TODAY -- WHEN TOMORROW?

Just like physical boundaries, we also operate in a world constrained by time. But soon time will also become irrelevant. It's not that we'll operate 24 hours a day -- it's that we'll operate without regard for even the day of the week, the month of the year, or perhaps even the year. In the virtual world, there are no physical limitations or boundaries -- time is one such limitation that will not be present (past or future) in a virtual world. Come with us and explore a "timeless" tomorrow.

SEE TECHNOLOGY TODAY -- TRANSPARENT TECHNOLOGY TOMORROW?

Transparent technology refers to the fact that technology may become such an integral and everyday part of our lives that we won't even acknowledge its existence. Think about electricity. Every organization needs it to survive, but how many organizations include electricity in their strategic plan? None, because electricity is transparent after a fashion. At www.mhhe.com/i-series , let's explore how technology can become transparent in the business world.

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS TODAY -- WHAT TOMORROW?

Today, technology is such a hot buzzword that everyone seems to be focusing more on it than the most important issue -- how to use technology for the betterment of people, society, and the business world. Let's take a glimpse into the future and see what it looks like when technology becomes transparent from a societal point of view.