Why 2030 Will Look Nothing Like 1995
If you think the past quarter century has been transformative, buckle up buttercup.
Yesterday (May 19, 2021) Microsoft announced that it’s scrapping the Internet browser Explorer–once the standard browser on most non-Apple computers. Born on August 16, 1995, Explorer is now done. It was just 25 years old.
In the 2020s, we’ll see a flood of new “obsolete technology” as the digital and cyber world completes its transformation into “smart,” “stream” and “cloud” technologies. It’s not just Microsoft’s Explorer. Say goodbye to desktop computers, hard drives, cable/satellite TV, Redbox, DVD/CD and stand alone GPS…essentially all the 1990s and early 2000s technology we once embraced.
Get ready to say hello to emerging H.A.I.R. technologies that will change every facet of life. Holograms. Artificial Intelligence. Robots. In 2030, smart tech will be every where, from lifelike robots that take orders to miniature drones that can explore inside the human body to “smart” clothes that detect heart attacks before they happen to holographic entertainment and presentations. These “H.A.I.R.” techs will revolutionize how we learn, work, communicate, socialize, buy and sell, age and play.
In my book GenTech: An American Story of Technology, Change and Who We Really Are, I explain how these technologies have already launched a distinctly new American generation known as the Robo Gen (born 2010 – 2030). These kids, currently preteens and under, will experience a world that we never imagined.
Welcome to the 2020s.