future incarnation of the PC

[ThePiston]

We are still in the computer's infancy when you think about it. I was born the year the Apple 1 came out. In 1994 the CEO of Oracle and megabillionaire Larry Ellison predicted that we would all be using an "internet appliance" of some sort that would replace the PC. Has this happened? Not really.... you may argue that cell phones, PDAs, and tablet PCs have put a dent in the PC, but we all still use them every day (especially the people viewing this thread).

Look into the future and tell us what you think the future "PC" will be like. I personally think that the cell phone will morph into what Ellison was talking about. The internet will be free one day and all wireless... it will be like the air we breath. The Treo 650 being probably the next step in the evolution of what the future "PC" will be.

 

[ArjSiv]

I personally can't see the internet being free one day. Someone still needs to broadcast signals if it's going to be wireless, that costs money. The only way I see this happening is if the entire concept of money is elimiated ( like on earth in Star Trek:TNG ).

I think in the far future, computers will fork into two major groups. Ones that do simple operations but very quickly like the ones we have today, and another group that will become sentient and perhaps be considered as "life" and might be able to do more higher-level "thinking".


Beyond that, I don't see anything different happening other than the ususal gain in processing power. However I do see a major social change coming on, and that's where computers are more socially acceptable now. Especially with Apple, a lot of their products have moved from your bedroom and into your living room, being a piece of elegant furniture or something you wear and wouldn't necessarily hide.

 

[DrPizza]

Personally, I'd like a few things more automated; like Ellison was talking about.
However, I can't really see anything really replacing the PC.
Reason: We all want BIGGER monitors... almost everyone drools over the prospect of having a 25 inch LCD monitor with a super-fast response time.

Cell phones: long term trend = get smaller (probably near the useful limit now - certainly no more briefcases to carry around)
PC's: long term trend = bigger monitors. It can perhaps be argued that the cases can get smaller, however as we progress to faster, we have increasing needs for cooling = probably limiting on size. I can envision keyboards being replaced with some sort of "smart" technology where you only have to wiggle your fingers in space and your movements will be interpretted as typing on a keyboard. Sort of like playing an air-guitar; only an air-keyboard. Similarly, the mouse could probably be replaced with some sort of tool that tracks the retina or a finger waving in the air. But, that's just my look into the future of what a PC will be like.

 

[ArjSiv]

Just a couple of critiques:

Air-keyboard: I can't see this one happening because it seems rather uncomfortable. At least with the modern keyboard you can rest your hands against it. It's also expense, such a technology would seem expensive, and things do get cheaper as time goes by, but such a system would involve a lot of physical equipment, and this is the same reason why we don't all have helicopters.

Retinal-scanning pointers: This one I can imagine to be a little bothersome, I think a lot of people value the freedom of being able to look at one place on the screen but have the pointer somewhere else. Such an ability is used very often, especially in games and 2D/3D work on a computer.

 

[JOJOBEAN]

Retinal Mouse- I figure there would be a type of disengage switch so you dont always control the mouse. But that would be interesting for games, it would make that game far more realistic. But i think the keyboard will be just like this someday where all you gotta do is think and it is typed.

 

[ThePiston]

Well we already have the technology to track where you are looking, laser keyboards that project onto your desk, voice recognized typing... but no one uses it. Are we afraid of change, or is what we have good enough for another 30 years?

 

[bluestrobe]

Originally posted by: ArjSiv
Just a couple of critiques:

Air-keyboard: I can't see this one happening because it seems rather uncomfortable. At least with the modern keyboard you can rest your hands against it. It's also expense, such a technology would seem expensive, and things do get cheaper as time goes by, but such a system would involve a lot of physical equipment, and this is the same reason why we don't all have helicopters.

These are already a reality. The keyboard is projected onto a hard surface and the interuption of the light judges what key you are "pushing". They have been featured on a few tv shows and I even seen a film where someone was using one, although he was having diffculties.

 

[everman]

In the very very long term: Computers will most likely be controlled by thought...no I'm not crazy. We've been able to create cybernetic prosthetics, and have monkeys control robotic arms by thought. Eventually we'll be able to do it all wirelessly with more sensitive equipment. The actual processing will probably be a quantum computer.

 

[ArjSiv]

Originally posted by: bluestrobe

Originally posted by: ArjSiv
Just a couple of critiques:

Air-keyboard: I can't see this one happening because it seems rather uncomfortable. At least with the modern keyboard you can rest your hands against it. It's also expense, such a technology would seem expensive, and things do get cheaper as time goes by, but such a system would involve a lot of physical equipment, and this is the same reason why we don't all have helicopters.

These are already a reality. The keyboard is projected onto a hard surface and the interuption of the light judges what key you are "pushing". They have been featured on a few tv shows and I even seen a film where someone was using one, although he was having diffculties.

Exactly, it's technologically possible, in fact almost all of these things are, but are they actually usable and wont cost a fortune? That's what's keeping them off the major market.

 

[DrPizza]

I had already seen an article on the keyboard idea... someone has already done it with sensors attached to the fingers. However, for the first time, I attempted to "air-type"... it's hard without the feedback from pushing on the actual keys.

 

[soccerballtux]

I read in Pop Sci that projection keyboards in a black little box that you connect to your PDA should be out some time....

That'd be great; esp if it was in the actual PDA or your Cellphone. We already have the camera part of the cell phone, now we just need an LED keyboard projector above the lense and a way to stand the phone on end.

But for the internet, as we all move to fibre optic, we will see the internet take a much larger role. When we get there, internet will be able to provide everything digitally that your house needs at once (gaming on a console, talking voip, watching hdtv through the internet, and streaming music). At that point manufacturers will come out with fridges with displays that show you how many items you have or that you need thus and such. Of course the real motivation behind this is another source of advertisement. Out of Coke? Your fridge could run a payed ad by Coca Cola to help you run to the store.

 

[YHPats]

I think it'll be a LOOOONG time before we see thought-controlled PC's.
Why ?
Because the impluses required to MOVE an eyeball, leg, finger, etc occur along specific nerves - whereas thoughts occur in the prefrontal cortex.
But I do believe we'll be wearing PC's before long - and viewing/experiencing them via VR headups/sound systems.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
I read in Pop Sci that projection keyboards in a black little box that you connect to your PDA should be out some time....

That'd be great; esp if it was in the actual PDA or your Cellphone. We already have the camera part of the cell phone, now we just need an LED keyboard projector above the lense and a way to stand the phone on end.

But for the internet, as we all move to fibre optic, we will see the internet take a much larger role. When we get there, internet will be able to provide everything digitally that your house needs at once (gaming on a console, talking voip, watching hdtv through the internet, and streaming music). At that point manufacturers will come out with fridges with displays that show you how many items you have or that you need thus and such. Of course the real motivation behind this is another source of advertisement. Out of Coke? Your fridge could run a payed ad by Coca Cola to help you run to the store.

That's going to suck - just one more place for ads to appear. I'm sure though that as long as there is imperfect technology on the market, people will find ways to hack it to make it less imperfect.
Coming soon - modding your refrigerator for lower temps, and your microwave for faster cooking times! CCFL lighting optional.


I look forward to good voice recognition systems, and simple, throughly tested computers embedded throughout a home. Tell your house to turn on something, but also have it recognize that you've left the house and forgotten the appliance, so the house can turn off a coffee maker, or TV if no one's going to be around to use it.
This will require significant advances or optimizations in processors - maybe a Voice Processing Unit? And a high-quality signal processor, so one or two microphones can pick up your voice, and still clearly understand it. Or better yet, 3 or more of them, so the computer can also figure out where in the room you are.

After that, image recognition, so you can point at something and say "turn that off", and the computer will figure out what "that" is referring to.

 

[nomadwind]

I particularly like the idea of a semi-air keyboard - some feedback is nice, additionally, it would adjust its angles to your style of typing and help prevent wrist ailments ^^. Particularly something similar to the ones in "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" if anyone's seen it. Of course, don't ask how that bio-material's going to be implemented...

I've thought a modular PC concept - doesn't exactly have much room for tweaking or modification, but rather a simplification for the mass consumer market - practically everything is module-based and TRUE plug-and-play. No wire jumble, no reaching awkwardly into the case, no hurting yourself on the internal assembly. HDD, CD-ROM, other drives, just shove it in from the side.

Otherwise...Real 'Transformers' PC's - turns into a car or any vehicle.

A book I read recently mentions on the use of DNA for computing - true parallel problem-solving. In some way, it matches up the protein pairs (complicated...) and subtracts it from another DNA chain - supposedly it 'analyses' all possible solutions simultaneously and reaches the solution in one fell swoop. Contrast with current processing techniques where basically each possibility needs to be analysed serially.

 

[imported_jb]

"Good morning sir/ma'dam! You are out of Spam!"

and i'm sure computers will be powered by soup someday.

what do youz think about Sony's recent patent on beaming a/v signals to your brain? if & whenever possible, that should be quite a jump for tech/entertainment.