Computers. We live in a day and age where we are no longer able to comprehend doing any task without them. They make it easy to find information, communicate with people around the globe and of course share our own information and data with those of our choosing. However, this technology has not remained static. We now have social media devices like Face Book and Twitter, and thus our demand and need for greater band with has increased.
For those who don't know, bandwidth is essentially the information highway for a computer with the speed at which that data is received, processed, and redistributed all being determined by how much bandwidth is allocated. We have, for the most part solved this problem by both compressing data and creating cloud servers to make it easier to access information while still keeping and continually shrinking our personal computers and cell phones. Still the demand for processing power goes on. Thus scientists have found a way to make fiber optic cables that can literally twist light so as to carry more data. Lasers are being experimented with as different varieties and spectrum's of lasers can surpass the traditional light spectrum when transmitting data. In addition, some computers are getting an upgrade, for as technology progresses, the expense and size of a server has shrunk, and will soon turn all home computers into their own independent servers which will expand processing power.
Wi-Fi is also going to have its own revolution. With television broadcasts and radios being transmitted as a digital signal (it allows for more TV channels, can't explain it any better than that) it frees up the traditional radio frequency bands that were used to transmit TV and radio signals. So powerful are these signals that in some cases a company can provide free wi-fi to a city or even and entire country.
Another, revolution is coming in the form of the wearable computer. Jackets with fiber optic cables woven in allow for phones, radios, speakers, and even life monitoring devices to be built into clothing. Even the new paper thin computer technology may be integrated as a TV or computer monitor may be built using plastics that change color due to the electricity flowing through it. Now there are also glasses that have built in computers in them which both Google and Apple are working on. Of course, their main challenge is not the functionality of such devices; it's the marketability for these things have to look fashionable to the wearer.
Soon, we will have implants and even wearable devices that will allow us to use computers to interact with both our natural environment and also the virtual world (yes, these are being experimented with, but primarily for the use by disabled people).
Finally, the mouse, the little device that allows us to click the icons on our screens will probably disappear. With touch screens and now facial recognition technology we can either press on the screen ourselves, or a computer program will recognize from how we are looking at the object if we want an icon or an app pressed. Even old school keyboards may be wiped away as laser projectors will be able to project a keyboard onto any flat surface for our personal use, assuming a device that monitors brain waves that can tell what we want written is not produced first. Heck why bother with a monitor when you can just wear the Google glasses and see what you want on an eye glass while eliminating that bulk from your home office.
Computer technology is only still in its infancy. Nothing can stop this computer revolution and innovation, not to mention the fact that with 3D printers, we ourselves will be able to produce our own unique designs. Lets just say this is a fun period in history to be living in, here's to the first BIO computer (modeled on the human brain and how it processes and stores data) coming maybe in the next decade or so ;)
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