Recently there’s been plenty of talk of products and services that are no longer going to be supported in the future. One example is the original Apple iPod. When the iPod first came out, it was the ‘must have’ product and having owned one, I couldn't have ever imagined a day where I could live without it. However, times, and tech, move on at a rapid rate and this got me thinking about technology today and where it may go in the future.
I’m not afraid to admit that I love my phone and like many other people it’s constantly by my side. If I do have to forgo some time without it, I feel like I’ve lost a limb, because my whole life is stored in my mobile - everything from emails, contact numbers and photos. But having seen how rapidly tech progresses, I can imagine a day where our dependence on the smartphone fizzles out. But before you gasp in horror, here’s a look back at how tech is developing right now and reasons why I think this day could be sooner than we realise.
The IOT (internet of things) is becoming larger, smarter and more interconnected. Take grocery shopping, for example. Rather than using an app or going online, your fridge might automatically reorder for you when you finish your pint of milk. Currently Amazon offers ‘dash buttons’ where at the click of a button an order gets placed for a replenishment. There’s currently only a limited range of products available under dash, but in the future more retailers may jump on board due to the convenience offered to the customer, which encourages repeat purchase.
And what about the weather, newsfeeds, online recipes and our daily dose of celeb gossip? Well, with the launch of Amazon Echo and Google Home we no longer require our mobile phones for all this information, and although the In-home AI market is relatively new, the marketplace is definitely heating up. As these products become more popular and more commonplace in homes, they will become integrate with the rest of our technology. Amazon Look can already take stylish selfies (sorry Snapchat!), so who know’s what else we’ll be turning to the Alexa of the future for.
If you take the original functionality of the mobile phone, to call someone while on the go, this has already moved on leaps and bounds over the past 25 years, with the introduction of video calling. But, is it too far-fetched to consider that in a not-too distant future we will have holographic calls, like the jedis use in Star Wars?
Maybe the PC will no longer be safe either. Traditionally I stored all my files and photos on my laptop, however, everything now gets uploaded from my mobile to the cloud, where it syncs-up beautifully and saves automatically.
Perhaps we’ll also see another rise in wearable tech. My Fitbit tells me how many steps I’ve done, calories I’ve burned, how active I’ve been and how well I’ve slept. The latest edition has more features such as built in GPS, personal coaching and making payments without your wallet. In the future, wearable tech may also end up keeping a closer eye on your health and automatically send details to your GP, or even call an ambulance if one were required – giving us one less reason to need a phone as well.
It really is exciting to think what the future has in store for us when it comes to tech, as the IOT become larger. But before then you’ll find me happily scrolling through my Instagram feed and Snapchatting my friends on my smartphone.