Millenium Insights
1^st in a four part series

Where is technology headed? Have you ever wondered about that? We are in the midst of a technological revolution that is comparable to the invention of the wheel. In a few millennia from now we shall be looking at computers as the fundamental building block of everyday life. As we steam ahead into the new millennium, we must analyze our goals for the future of technology. For as we race to cure every problem society has, we must have a common goal in mind as to where we are heading. My parents and teachers have always told me alike, that before starting anything I need to set where I am going with it. The following are my dreams for the future of technology.

• Healthcare: the end of the next millennium shall find a cure for virtually disease. However, the future of healthcare technology has the potential to become a purely research-driven field. Technology shall conquer the disease, but our goal must lie in eventually reaching a stage where we prevent something before it starts.

  Another advance in this field will include the incorporation of things such as chips into the brain. The concept of genetic engineering will be able to take full force past the year 2000. This shall provide us with an opportunity to look into the mirror and design our own body. Despite the ethical questions being raised today, in an appearance conscious society, such as this one, little can be done to stop such trends.

• Computers: I feel that computers as we know it shall cease to exist in the future. This technology has been tailored to fuse with any field imaginable. We are already seeing that happening, as computers fuse with every area of life, from the TV to the car. As I mentioned earlier, the invention of the computer is like the invention of the wheel. In a few years from now, they too shall be viewed as the wheel. The wheel is the most important concept (of present-day) cars, but we do not notice them. We like the cars and look only at them.

• Entertainment: DVDs, Home Theater System, Big Screen TV, are all products of the boost in entertainment technology that we have seen today. In a booming economy such as this, one can expect such advances to occur. The future seems only to be bringing more free time to the people as robots take over jobs. In order to keep people entertained, this field of technology promises to be one of the most explosive in the next few 100 years.

• Internet: How could I ever forget this. The Internet has shrunk the world to an unimaginable size. Delivering messages no longer requires the movement of any muscles but the fingers. The Internet in the future is the telephone today. Telephones are present in many homes and are the best way to send a message quickly and personally, but are a back up. Telephones are often used as a last resort nowadays. The future of Internet seems to be headed in this direction as well.

This column shall be continued next week as part of the insights in to the new millenium month on the weekly column.

Date posted: December 6, 1999.

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