Twenty-Twenty on the future

Apologies for being away from this space for so long. It has been a warm, busy summer with our exciting project at Sonopia taking shape into something that may just outgrow - by a significant measure - some of my initial expectations. The vision and tenacity of the people involved is a source of continued inspiration. As anyone working in start-ups will surely grant me, the ability to stay the course and plow ahead is as important to the entrepreneur and his team as it is to the farmer and his crops.
Speaking of outgrowing, let me draw your attention to this study by Rand Corporation designated to define the technologies and applications available to man-kind 14 years from now (thanks to Paul for pointing this out)

The paper discusses technology from a macro-economic perspective. From scanning the summary we learn;

Highlights of technology that will be available to us in 2020;
Personalized medicine and therapies
Genetic modification of insects to control pests and disease vectors
Computational (or "in-silico") drug discovery and testing
Targeted drug delivery through molecular recognition
Biomimetic and function-restoring implants
Rapid bioassays using bionanotechnologies
Embedded sensors and computational devices in commercial goods
Nanostructured materials with enhanced properties
Small and efficient portable power systems
Mass-producible organic electronics, including solar cells
Smart fabrics and textiles
Pervasive undetectable cameras and sophisticated sensor networks
Large, searchable databases containing detailed personal and medical data
Radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking of commercial products and individuals
Widespread bundled information and communications technologies, including wireless Internet connectivity
Quantum-based cryptographic systems for secure information transfer.

These technologies are then suggested to have an impact on life as follow;
1. Cheap solar energy
2. Rural wireless communications
3. Communication devices for ubiquitous information access anywhere, anytime
4. Genetically modified (GM) crops
5. Rapid bioassays
6. Filters and catalysts for water purification and decontamination;
7. Targeted drug delivery
8. Cheap autonomous housing
9. Green manufacturing
10. Ubiquitous RFID tagging of commercial products and individuals
11. Hybrid vehicles
12. Pervasive sensors
13. Tissue engineering
14. Improved diagnostic and surgical methods
15. Wearable computers
16. Quantum cryptography

Without yawing over it, allow me to bring your attention to item 3) - and proclaim that the Wireless Revolution is well under way. Seamless communication across devices, platforms, mediums .. how about across languages, mind-patterns, gesticulations - maybe even time? What appear today, as a dream, tomorrow is yesterdays news - or in the words of George Bernard Shaw "You see things and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were, and I say, 'Why not?'" For many in the industry it is crossing the chasm between tomorrows reality and todays facts that constitute the challenge. Dreaming does not pay for the mortgage .. but it doesn't hurt to see things around the corner and find joy in the fact that my childhoods science fiction dreams will come true within my own lifespan.
Scary, if you think about it..