The Future of Computers



*So I found an essay I wrote for a threaded discussion at my school. I wrote this on April 12, 2012 and entitled it "The Future of Computers."



          Beware: robots will take over the world. Well maybe not robots, but computers at least have already taken over in a sense. Whether we like it or not, computers are involved in almost every aspect of our modern lives. They directly or indirectly assist people with simple activities such as watching television, driving cars, and surfing the Internet. What is amazing is that according to Moore’s law, computer technology will continue to evolve at an incredibly fast rate, doubling the number of transistors in integrated circuits every two years. That is dramatic increase in a such a short amount of time – so how far will computer technology go in 10, 20, or even 50 years from now? To discuss this, we must first look at what we have at present and then we can speculate about the future.

          Among the driving forces of change are the industry leaders in the technological field. Google for example, released its Project Glass prototype, which provides people with augmented reality. This interesting product gives people an interface to check the weather, take pictures/videos, or surf the Internet using eye movement. Contact lenses would improve even more in the future as innovators will find a way to add more features with lesser distractions to the user. Apple’s Siri on their iPhone series acts like a personal assistant, managing simple tasks such as scheduling meetings or texting people through speech and voice recognition technology. This will soon be obsolete, as future technologies would become much more complex. There will be translation software in people’s phones that negate the need for human translators. Even tasks at home like making coffee, changing the thermostat temperature, and turning on the TV/computer will be voice activated. Microsoft is even experimenting with 3-D touch inter faces as seen in their Holodesk project. I can already envision holographic sales associates or 3-D products used for demonstration purposes at stores nationwide a few decades from now. AMD, Extreme Reality, Intel, and the other technological giants provide the much needed competition, which only helps to speed up the progression of computer technology.

          Companies compete for what people need and want. In retrospect, people have an unquenchable thirst for speed, power, and convenience. This is why I predict that the bulky laptops will be replaced by tablet computers in the near future. In turn, smartphones (or something better) will replace these tablets. It could be something as small and portable as a pen. The need for physical screens will diminish over time, as screens and keyboards can be projected mid-air or on any suitable surface. However, I believe that desktops will stay for a while because people want power. People want enterprise-level supercomputers in the comfort of their own homes. This is also why I believe that quantum computers will be commercially available and would be common in most households in around 20-40 years, just like how PCs are right now. Though these seem like bold predictions, I believe that these are all plausible. Year after year, there are several scientific breakthroughs that help with the advancement of computer technology. Year after year, concepts of old are being materialized in the present. What seems crazy back then is synonymous to reality now. So what is the future of computers in 10, 20, or 50 years? We can all speculate, but no one truly knows the answer. All we know is this: with computer technology, the sky’s the limit – and that’s what makes it exciting.


Sources:

Google Project Glass
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2012/04/googles-project-glass.html

Apple Siri
http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/siri.html

Microsoft Holodesk
http://blogs.technet.com/b/next/archive/2011/10/19/microsoft-research-shows-some-fresh-thinking-on-nui-and-touch-interface.aspx

Quantum Computers
http://www.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17688257