Science Fiction / Ideation!!...

Recently, I was approached by a fellow blogger, Man Gro, and asked to contribute to their blog, with technology related posts. A similar request had been put across to me years ago, by another fellow blogger called Totally Nuts, where he wanted various bloggers, of the time, to finish a story he had started, in their own way. So, since this new one came up, I been looking forward to team up again.

A small problem though, as I discussed with Man Gro, I am not really a techie. Not IT literate. Not the kind to load my internet pages with lots of hi-fi stuff. And not from the engineering background either. I am also not the one to surf the Net, looking for the latest versions or toys (read gadgets).

Even though, I have always loved all gadgets, if they seem useful in my life…as far as I am concerned, science & technology to me is simply the means to an end; for further simplification, growth & betterment, in every sphere.

Bur Man Gro assured me that he intends to make that blog a users blog, where people from all walks of life, get to put their POVs across on technology; how its useful in their life, their wishes, and their ideas. He said, “If it was just about IT, I would suffice as the author on the blog”, since he is from IT.

When I think technology, I can’t help but start dreaming (I guess that’s a Piscean trait…or is just the inquisitive thinker in me?). And following are a few things I have always dreamt about, which I thought of sharing here:

* Cell-phones, air-conditioners, refrigerators, microwaves, automobiles and all other machines, entering the new age, and become environment as well as health friendly

* Each machinery also to be built in with a user-identification-sensor (ruling out the necessity to log-in or having to enter passwords each time… this should also help the authorities catch thieves, robbers, hackers etc.)

* Machines also to have a mandatory timer-system, where the user can for instance set it to stay connected for 2 hrs, or to come on, every alternate hour (in case of air-conditioning systems), or to come on at 8am every morning (in case of Radios or Water Heaters/ Geysers), or for them to turn off automatically at 12 midnight

* At houses there should also be a ‘mains’ switch at the entrance, which only the owners have access to… which when turned off, all appliances in the house get turned-off automatically… This would help save fires or the unreasonable electricity bills, which mostly occur when the occupants are not at home; while work or travelling. Systems should also be developed that go on supporting the burglar-alarm-systems, refrigerators, etc., while the other appliances are switched off in such a case

* All machines also to have inbuilt text/video/audio manuals, so that every user, tech savvy or not, can figure out the usage

* Every machine becoming compact, sleek, soundless (no noise pollution) and mobile (or easy to carry);

- feather-light cell-phones of the length of your palm, fully-loaded, with super-fast/ real-time internet-connectivity, unlimited storage capacity, 20hrs or more of video/ still cameras, 24 hrs or more of battery life, connectability to satellites if need be to ensure that users are always connected (losing network in basements or remote locations should be a passé), water-proof, shock-resistant, with automatic network connection when you change location from home-base to a foreign land, with a power connection cable that is wound into the outlines of the phone itself on the inside- so all you need to do is pull out the cord and plug in (basically, ruling out the necessity of having to carry a charger, extra battery, connection cord for computers, hands free, etc.)

- desktops become obsolete giving way to light-weight & even more compact laptops that can fit into your purse and yet be easy to type on (realistically sized qwerty key-board), with the option of having an inbuilt scanner/copier/fax machine/printer/all-in-one, which are faster, with unlimited storage capacity & battery life, and with a removable hard-drive (which is the size similar to pen drives) which are insertable and yet don’t show sticking out on the outside, inbuilt internet cards, webcams, speakers, mikes and the additional wireless head set which is the size of a slick small pen inserted into one of user’s ears, and with a power connection cable that is wound into the outlines of the laptop itself on the inside- so all you need to do is pull out the cord and plug in (basically, ruling out the necessity of having to carry a power cable, external hard-drives or pen-drives, webcams, speakers, head-sets, etc.)

- hybrid and compact vehicles that do not harm the atmosphere or cause further traffic congestions, where the drivers can see the front and rear ends of their vehicles easily, with central-locking, burglar-alarms to the owner’s cell-phones, navigators, temperature-gauges, air-conditioning, entertainment-centres in front of each passenger’s seat barring the driver’s (audio, video, gaming, internet, satellite tv, etc.), parking sensors, etc.

- also the makers deciding to make hybrids cheaper and the other cars more expensive, in order to help our environment… this was people would opt for the cheaper option and thus the makers would be able to get back more than the cost of making environment-friendly vehicles … and only the collectors would opt for the other kind of cars

- cycling becoming cooler with easier rides, rear-views, head-lights, tail-lights, optional umbrellas, with storage space in the front, etc. …so that people opt to take their cycles out for reasonable distances on day-to-day basis rather than clogging the roads with cars all the time

- public transport systems all over the world getting a makeover, where all governments are regulated to match the international safety, sanitation, environment-friendly & traffic norms… all such vehicles coming with inbuilt sensors, where each time the drivers break a rule, their supervisors sitting at the regional-offices get the reports automatically

- also an internal authority coming up with regulations that ensures the local governments connect each and every single of their locations through the public transport… so that no location remains ‘remote’ anymore, at least in the political territories

- traffic-signals, street-lights etc. remaining on manual controls, but with a automatic settings of time… street lights changing every 5mins for example, and street-lights turning on between 6pm to 6am

- each public location (govt. offices, shopping-complexes, hotels, restaurants, even streets & intersections, etc.) to have hidden cameras to keep all those thieves, terrorists, or other stray folks in check

These are just a few of the things I have been wishing for, since a long time. You would notice that a some of these have already come true (laptops coming with inbuilt webcams, user-ids, etc.). But there’s still a long way to go. And I am sure someday all the above and more would become a reality.

I think what has kept the world going and developing is the Scientists (I consider all Sociologists, Politicians, Historians and other Thinkers as scientists too by the way… After all History, Political Science, Sociology, Economics, Geography etc. fall under the Social Sciences category)… and all the people who believed in them and gave them their support, encouragement and rewards. Now, that’s a food for thought!

Time and again, scientists and other thinkers of the world have tried to observe a ‘content society’ in History, or tried to speculate such a world, the conclusion has always been a wipe-out of such communities. Constant and consistent Growth & Development has always come as the solution. So each time someone accuses you of being a dissatisfied and negative person, you can tell them this. But of course unless we remain optimistic, we would not have the courage to take the risks and try change the world for the betterment, now shall we?

An interesting trivia … when the ‘sci-fi’ movie ‘Enemy Of The Sate’ had come out, the surveillance systems concocted by the makers were laughed at by some scientists… where as the others decided to try and develop such a system… Today we don’t only spot hidden-cameras in some such locations around us, not but we can also check out our own residences with the help of Google Earth.

Ponder on…S m i l e