Folks, I like to make my articles a little more fun on Fridays, and so my article on the recent report that shows more people than ever are being fooled by phishing e-mails will just have to wait for another day. If you really want to learn more about ID Theft and phishing, you can click this link and read more.
Today I'm mostly going to talk about a book I was lucky enough to find in my local library's Free Bin; Scott Adam's The Dilbert Future-- Thriving on Stupidity in the 21st Century™ which was published a little over a decade ago (in 1997). In this book, he dared to predict the future, which strangely enough, is our "now".
Before I proceed, I probably should take a moment to explain that Scott Adams is the creator of the immensely popular Dilbert™ comic strip. As popular as Dilbert™ is with the general public, it is my understanding that Dilbert™ is ginormously popular amongst the "tech crowd" (aka "Geeks").
This must be true, because I'm a geek and I am a huge fan.
I thought it might be kind of fun to look at a few of the predictions Scott made, and see how they compare to today's reality. (And please remember, he made these years before the Y2K Bug.)
- In the future, life definitely won't be like Star Trek.
- There will be a huge market for technological products which help workers goof off and still get paid.
- Your clothes will be smarter than you.
- Computer-using men will be the sexiest males.
Not bad! He scored a 3 out of 4 in that sample. Our clothes are not smarter than us.. at least, not yet. But who knows? In 10 years they probably will be.
A very interesting article on HowStuffWorks.com says the following, "In the next few years, we might be filling our closets with smart shirts that can read our heart rate and breathing, and musical jackets with built in all-fabric keypads. Thin light-emitting diode (LED) monitors could even be integrated into this apparel to display text and images. Computerized clothes will be the next step in making computers and devices portable without having to strap electronics to our bodies or fill our pockets with a plethora of gadgets. These new digital clothes aren't necessarily designed to replace your PC, but they will be able to perform some of the same functions."
Yes.. an "e-wardrobe". Nanotechnology is really just beginning to be explored, but some "smart clothing" is already here-- as this article on CNN.com/technology tells us, "smart clothes that can repel insects and mask nasty odors such as cigarette smoke have proved successful and are already being marketed.
Last year, a design student at Cornell University designed a garment that can prevent colds and flu and, crucially, never needs washing.
We can expect to see, in the not-too-distant future, fabrics that have in-built cooling, deodorant, moisturizer and even vitamins."
And, underwear that can detect cancer in its earliest stages.
I have to admit, that's pretty smart. Maybe I should give Mr. Adams more credit, and mark him a perfect 4/4.
I have run out of space to talk more about The Dilbert Future, but I will say it still an excellent and enjoyable read.. and it's still available online.
Today's free download: Did you ever drop a quarter in to play a game of video poker? (If you're like me, it was more than one quarter..) Put a video poker game on you PC with Draw Poker for Windows.
Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.
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