The following is a guest post written by Dave Johnston. Follow him on twitter or visit his site.
Technology.
My lifetime, just a blip of noise in the long song that is human existence, has been marked by advances in technology that have changed nearly every aspect of daily life. We are now bound to hundreds of mainstream, common pieces of technology for most of the day. Nary a moment goes by without the lid on our MacBook open, without the iPhone’s friendly chime singing to us. We are always on, and we know firmly that we’ll never go back. These are the tools that we’ve always needed to organize our world, be more productive, and live amazing lives. Put simply, we are in love.
And while you can tell that we’re almost there at this point, I believe even bigger things are just over the horizon. The era of the Super Gadget is so close, it has to be just around the corner. Innovation moves so quickly and seems only to accelerate with each passing year. Something big is coming soon, you can feel it.
The truly revolutionary device. The one that will put everything before it to shame, that everyone will want to use. The one that everyone will have to use.
Imagine a device that you can take anywhere with you, seamlessly. One that is big enough to store a nearly-unlimited amount of information, but so compact that you almost never think about it being there. It is so seamless that it travels with you everywhere, even during sex or while taking a shower. No longer an on-or-off decision, this device’s amazing intelligence is with you, helping you, for every moment of your day.
Imagine having the world’s most cutting-edge technology at your fingertips at any moment, with zero latency, and without so much as a single button to press. One that is updated with new information and features constantly, without any downloads, or plug-ins, or new installs of software. One that learns with every passing moment that you possess it. No seasonal upgrade, no new model to buy every year, and yet constantly improving its capabilities.
Everything that you need, one device. It does what we think any great piece of technology should do right now, tasks like word processing, communication, and turn-by-turn directions. But it goes so far beyond, allowing us to do things until now thought unimaginable in one gadget.
Imagine being able to carry something with you that actually helps you evaluate human relationships. One with smart-learning technology that allows you to recall past events in real time that present you with data on all the people you’ve ever met, quickly enabling you to consult the accumulated history and make smart decisions about who to spend time with, who to befriend, and even who to fall in love with. A semantic web of real world data, tailored to your life, available everywhere instantly and at any time of the day.
Imagine holding a technology that constantly processes the flood of information traveling through your body at every moment; and without so much as a click, regulates such things as your body temperature, your heart rate, your breathing, even your balance – and uses that information to inform you almost immediately if something is amiss or needs attention. One that frees you from these concerns so you can concentrate on living life.
The world’s most complex data source, and yet yours to use whenever you need it. Help with simple daily tasks like preparing a delicious meal for your family, repairing the timing belt on your car, choosing a great book to read to your daughter, or using CPR in an emergency. And it all happens without ever having to fumble with a touch screen or any user interface. Flawless integration, always on.
Now take it one step further. Imagine the unlimited possibilities of having essentially the perfect device with you at all times. Picture the confidence that comes with owning such a technology. You would have no boundaries. The dreams you have would no longer seem so far away, so challenging. You could create beautiful music like Beethoven. Design buildings with a flamboyance that surpasses Frank Lloyd Wright. Write a story with more layers than one penned by Phillip K. Dick. Dream up a world of characters more colorful than Jim Henson’s. Maybe you would paint something even more surreal than Dalí. Sing as beautifully as Maria Callas. Or conduct wild experiments like Thomas Edison.
You might even have the gall to discover something completely new, perhaps a planet, or a cure for cancer.
All made possible by a device that has so much processing power that you would struggle to use much of it for most of your life.
Imagine.
That you don’t have to imagine.
Because you already own one.
And it’s entirely in your head.
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