Projections - The Future of Multimedia
As we near the turn of the century, reflection is too common for everyone
whether you are connected with multimedia directly or not. For the most part
even if you refuse to admit to being a part of the 'new media revolution',
you cannot lessen the impact it will have on you in the very near future.
For most of us involved with the technology, the speed at which things can
change is just as boggling. But even if you're not quite ready to catch that
train, it may just pull you along anyhow!
Today we are faced with the daily dilemma of either keeping up or shutting
up to coin the age-old phrase. Things are changing, software is being invented,
applications are broadened, hardware is being mass produced all with the goal
of adding more to our computers to make the interfacing application faster,
better, realistic, and of course just cooler in total. Small things add up,
till you have huge things and comprehension, unfortunately is lacking.
This is where I will open the questioning with Natalia Usselman.
Projections: Natalia, at its very basic level, the computer and its applications
have had a huge impact on our lives, what more changes do you foresee in the
next 50 years?
Natalia: The most exciting prediction in my opinion is that our planet is
going to run out of IP addresses. The new network address scheme allows to
place 9 of IP addresses on each square meter of Earth. You can imagine how
many things will be hooked up to the network in the future. Every single household
appliance could be a part of a local network in your house and a part of a
global network outside of it. Picture yourself a fridge that scans its own
contents, decides that milk is low and sends an order to a grocery store computer.
Milk gets delivered to your door the same day. Or you punch in the fridge
the recipes for the whole week ahead, the fridge calculates the amount of
food needed, orders it for you and specifies the good time for their delivery.
The Bill Gates' type of a house would be accessible to everyone. You walk
in, press button "Tired after work." Your bath fills with water and bubbles,
lights dim and soft music starts playing. The washing machine loads by itself,
reminds you that your jeans have not been washed for two weeks, and orders
the soap from the store when it runs out.
P: Automation of many things is of course probably a good thing, however,
how does this affect the software and technique rather than tangible product-based
services?
N: The global network will have all the advantages and disadvantages of
the existing networks. It will have crashes (imagine the inconvenience for
people who are used to automatic shopping! If you ever had your microwave
broken you know what I mean). It will demand more electricity, which is hard
to say right now where it is going to come from. The network can be hacked.
Imagine someone hacking into your home server and turning a hot water on while
you are in the shower. Your meat was thawed out and frozen again - murder
on the net coming true. The security option alone might prevent the global
network from happening.
P: How about the cell-phone mentality? Communications, especially the instantaneous
variety seem to be riding the big Kahuna wave, is there a mega-revolution
on the horizon?
N: The network will tend to be wireless. But with this many IP addresses
we will have to basically walk on microwaves. The solution to it is connecting
to your server at home first and contacting the rest of the world from there.
The example of it the current idea of everyone connecting to the giant server
with all the software in the world and for a certain fee running it from there.
All you have to have at home is a monitor and a keyboard.
P: This is probably the beginning of the next great exodus; everyone can
work and work where they please. The infrastructure of our cities will have
to change as well, how do we incorporate these changes to keep up with the
'warp speed' of the information that will be available via the multimedia
pipeline of information?
N: I am certain the infrastructure of the cities and places where people live will change. It is happening right now. There would be no downtowns, as we know them. More and more people would work from home. It might be possible to go for weeks and weeks without seeing a live human being. It might happen that you meet outsiders only if you get sick. As you see the technology, as always, brings in the grim side of it together with the bright one. But there is no doubt that there will be more and more things that are hooked together, things that have a network address. That is where the world is going, and we are with it.
copyright 1999 by Christopher Kindratsky Natalia Usselman
Bibliography:
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/press/pr9712.htm
Cutting Edge Projects in Scientific Inquiry Leading to New Interactive Media
http://www.arena-multimedia.com/future/adprint.html
Future Opportunities in Media and Print
http://www.autodesk.com/solution/edu/ebd/mulq5.htm
What does the future of multimedia look like?
Graphic "Lonely Orbit" - http://www.dragontree.net/gallery
By artist - Molly Barr
"There would be no downtowns, as we know them. More and more people would
work from home. It might be possible to go for weeks and weeks without seeing
a live human being."