Home heating/cooling/management tech - Heat-pumps are coming along nicely, but are still too rare and much too expensive at the low-end. I can get a window A/C unit for maybe $120, and could install it BACKWARDS with some small modifications (power source and thermostat), but it's rare to find a unit that does heating and cooling under $600... Most anything cheaper than that is "supplemental heat", which means they just jammed a space-heater (coils) inside a window A/C unit. Cheapest real heat-pump I've found is: This $470 Frigidaire FFRH0822R1.
TV/Radio/Movies - The advance of technology is causing fundamental shifts we can just start to see now, but it will take some time to shake-out. Lower cost of production, lower costs of delivery, and more outlets for distribution are going to have huge effects. I'm glad there's plenty of pretty good older content out there now, to bridge the gap as everybody tries to figure it out.
Communications - I think we've got that covered. Remember back when ham was popular as an alternative to astronomically expensive international phone calls? Now a $20 cell phone can jump on WiFi and make free international phone calls to and from anywhere in the world.
Govt issues (record keeping, healthcare) - Everybody hates taxes, and the code is due for a massive overhaul to make the super-rich pay a fair percentage, and make the amount owed a far simpler formula that eliminates the hours and billions spent on accountants. But there's nothing innovative in that, just proper governance. In general, I get nervous when the government starts "innovating"... The NSA has gotten far too "innovative" in recent years for my taste.
Public transportation systems - I anxiously await Futurama-style people-mover tubes. However, self-driving cars combined with all-electric propulsion could be pretty efficient, quicker and very comfortable. Just imagine a self-driving motorhome with batteries and rooftop solar panels... You could just wake-up, still at home, but in a new city every day.
Banking systems - We're starting to see things like micro-loans, pay-by-cell phone, etc. But "innovation" to them, is just more sneaky ways to get more money out of unsuspecting people. I'd rather they didn't "innovate" like that much if at all...
Safety/Security, incl. 'anti-terrorism' - We're a small step away from everybody recording everything that happens, everywhere, all the time. It will become considerably harder to get away with any crimes. Combined with everyone's whereabouts at all times of day/night being on-record at the phone company, law enforcement seems to have a big change looming.
Education - Technology doesn't help without a change in culture. Forcing students to read Moby Dick on a tablet won't make it any more relevant to kid's lives, today. Huge amounts of money were spent to get TVs and VCRs in every classroom, only to be used to watch Hollywood films when the teacher feels like taking a break. Meanwhile, students are forced to read famous plays, be told about world events that happened on-camera, read about physics/biology/chemistry when video would get so much more across more quickly, etc., etc. And more recently, lots of money spent on computers that are largely off-limits to students, locked-down to the point that they might just as well be replaced with electronic typewriters or word processors. The system would be better served to use that money on teacher salaries, and migrate away from mostly attendance-based grading.
Cheapest real heat-pump I've found is: This $470 Frigidaire FFRH0822R1.
TV/Radio/Movies - The advance of technology is causing fundamental shifts we can just start to see now, but it will take some time to shake-out. Lower cost of production, lower costs of delivery, and more outlets for distribution are going to have huge effects. I'm glad there's plenty of pretty good older content out there now, to bridge the gap as everybody tries to figure it out.
Communications - I think we've got that covered. Remember back when ham was popular as an alternative to astronomically expensive international phone calls? Now a $20 cell phone can jump on WiFi and make free international phone calls to and from anywhere in the world.
Govt issues (record keeping, healthcare) - Everybody hates taxes, and the code is due for a massive overhaul to make the super-rich pay a fair percentage, and make the amount owed a far simpler formula that eliminates the hours and billions spent on accountants. But there's nothing innovative in that, just proper governance. In general, I get nervous when the government starts "innovating"... The NSA has gotten far too "innovative" in recent years for my taste.
Public transportation systems - I anxiously await Futurama-style people-mover tubes. However, self-driving cars combined with all-electric propulsion could be pretty efficient, quicker and very comfortable. Just imagine a self-driving motorhome with batteries and rooftop solar panels... You could just wake-up, still at home, but in a new city every day.
Banking systems - We're starting to see things like micro-loans, pay-by-cell phone, etc. But "innovation" to them, is just more sneaky ways to get more money out of unsuspecting people. I'd rather they didn't "innovate" like that much if at all...
Safety/Security, incl. 'anti-terrorism' - We're a small step away from everybody recording everything that happens, everywhere, all the time. It will become considerably harder to get away with any crimes. Combined with everyone's whereabouts at all times of day/night being on-record at the phone company, law enforcement seems to have a big change looming.
Education - Technology doesn't help without a change in culture. Forcing students to read Moby Dick on a tablet won't make it any more relevant to kid's lives, today. Huge amounts of money were spent to get TVs and VCRs in every classroom, only to be used to watch Hollywood films when the teacher feels like taking a break. Meanwhile, students are forced to read famous plays, be told about world events that happened on-camera, read about physics/biology/chemistry when video would get so much more across more quickly, etc., etc. And more recently, lots of money spent on computers that are largely off-limits to students, locked-down to the point that they might just as well be replaced with electronic typewriters or word processors. The system would be better served to use that money on teacher salaries, and migrate away from mostly attendance-based grading.