[Reading time: 4 minutes]
16 years ago, I predicted the future of the Internet. I published an article on my blog about how internet and consumer technology will be like in 10 to 20 years. Now is the right time to check what how successful I was. Long story short: Yes, Elon musk does read my blog!
I wrote the post in fall of 2000. Google was only 2 years old then. My blog was already 4 years old. Back then, nobody called it a blog yet because the word „blog“ was not invented yet. So let’s see what I got right.
The home of the future
* Black text is 2000 Jiri.
* Red text is 2016 Jiri’s comments .
* Read the original article in Czech here
Everything gets connected
Lot of news came out about the home appliances recently New fridges and other appliances that are „more intelligent“ than their older counterparts. These new appliances use Internet and other computer technology. How will ehome look like in 10 to 20 years?
The essential part of the technology will be a local area network (LAN). The same one as used in companies or other institutions for sharing data and devices.
Oops, it seems like I missed Wifi completely. However, even more computers or devices connected to a network was hi-tech back then.
I believe that it will be not just computers, but all appliances at home. Microwaves, washing machines, irons or TVs will have not just a microprocessor, but also a network adapter. Your car will be connected as well, of course. There will be a wireless connection to your network wherever you go.
We do have smart TVs, but we are still waiting for smart irons 😉
The core of this network will be a home server. A classic server as we know if from computer networks and the internet. This server will perform all the e-home communication. This server will be connected to the Internet.
Yes! But now we call it „a smartphone“
I believe that a permanent home connection to the Internet will be a standard. I can’t guess its speed at all, though.
No more dial-up. 1 000 x faster connection. And not just at home.
Not just appliances will be connected, but obviously computers as well. There will be the same number of household members as computers. Everyone will need a computer for their work in few years, including kids.
The purpose of the home network.
What will be the purpose of it all? The network will offer basic functionality as we know it today, such as shared access to the Internet. Then you can use Internet from any computer or device, including your car.I also believe that there will not be any dedicated phone cable network. but everything will go through the Internet. We know this already from our operators, as they offer „Internet call“. You can also call within your home, something like an internal phone network.
Why would anyone need an internal phone network if you can just use Whatsapp? 😉
You can check all your devices and appliances at home. You can use how many lights are on and if a sensor shows that nobody is in the room, you can turn the light off. You can find the temperature outside, in each room, in your oven, bathtub or inside your computer. Simply wherever you place thermometers connected to „the home web“, you get the data.
Good one. Saying hello to Phillips Hue and Angee.
If you believe that your car does not have a good enough performance or fuel economy, you just download a new version of your car’s operating system.
Yes! Elon Musk does read my blog! Tesla, you are welcome!
Or, you can download new software to your bathroom that will measure your water consumption and can check and optimize its usage. It will absolutely be possible to play your MP3 files in the bathroom. These files can be stored in your computer or in your car.
Do you want to watch TV on your cellphone? No problem, you can do it with its 1600x1200p screen resolution. TV coverage is not a problem either, as the television is distributed solely through the internet. Your cell phone, or let’s say „mobile internet browser“ will be obviously connected too.
Ok, I did predict the smartphone 🙂
Our lifestyle will not be so much different
the Internet was the first big step to an universal global connection. E-home will be the next step. It is easy to reach information from anywhere in the world now. Getting information about your home will be just as easy. You will just need a phone.
Despite the advent of all that technology, I believe that our lifestyle will not be so much diffeerent. People will go to work in the morning. 99% of them will be white collar workers, physical work will be done by just 1% of people, using machines. People will buy most of the things in brick-and-mortar shops, will go to restaurants, schools and churches and visit their friends.
There are still definitely more than 1% of blue collar workers. However, the „new machine age“ is coming. Tesla is building highly robotized gigafactory and industry 4.0. is the new buzzword.
We do have smartphones and interconnected devices. Our life got a bit easier and better. But the thing that I am the most grateful for is that we still meet each other in person and enjoy the real life.
Article editor: Vojtěch Benedikt 😉 (thanks)
