Future

What do you think of the iPhone? What do you think of Windows 8? What do you think of the iPad mini? What do you think it means that DirectX 11.1 will be Windows 8 exclusive? What do you think of the Samsung Galaxy S3? How do you think an Ultrabook compares to a Macbook Continue Reading →

When the 2012 election returns came in, I was in Sydney, Australia. The view was high level and from afar. This reminded me of a forecast I made far back in 2007 about this election. The specifics of the outcome were, in fact, what I had suggested might occur. In early 2007, when the early Continue Reading →

I’ve been thinking about the future of robotics, artificial intelligence (also known as A.I.) and the future of sports. I’m a futurist and can’t help it. When I talk to people about the future of these things, people are pretty fearful of it. They worry that robots will take our jobs and that A.I. will Continue Reading →

This week finds me in Chicago visiting my family. Go Bears! I’m not a huge Bears fan, but I’m from the West Coast, where football is a religion like it is in other places in America. Plus, when in Rome… I’ve roped my family into helping with the column this week. My family is more Continue Reading →

Each week, Team Shelly Palmer sends me a prompt for this column, focusing on a topical event or idea, which I then explore in regards to the future. This past week, the last week of October 2012, I received no prompt. I hadn’t really expected to. It’s been a hard week on the east coast Continue Reading →

As a futurist I speak and write for a living. The spoken word and the written word are the coins of my professional realm. Now think about that, the phrase “written word.” Wow how we continue to use legacy phrases! We don’t say “typed word” or “dictated word” or “keyboarded word.” As a futurist I always reflect on this. Continue Reading →

The week of October 21, 2012 found TV, radio and the Internet abuzz with screens. Apple launched its not-so-secret iPad mini to a chorus of gushing admiration, or a collective “meh” depending upon which side of the fence you stand. National Public Radio’s Morning Edition embarked a week-long series of daily stories called “How we Continue Reading →

Maker culture is moving from a small movement to the mainstream. There is no better proof of this than the attendance figures at the Maker Faire. Created in 2006 as a gathering for the MAKE magazine crowd, the Maker Faire is held in over 20 cities worldwide, with the flagship faire in the Bay Area, Continue Reading →

Are you a Maker? Do you know a Maker? Do you know what a Maker is? There has been a lot of attention recently around Maker Culture. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, along with the NYC Economic Development Corporation, proclaimed the week of September 24-30, 2012 as “Maker Week.” Wired Magazine’s October cover features Continue Reading →

When Hollywood directors attempt to depict the future of PC interfaces, they come up with everything from voice-controlled supercomputers to holographic keyboards. But one very famous fictional interface, the touchless finger-to-glass-display controls shown in Minority Report, just took a giant leap into the real world thanks to the work of developers at Microsoft Research. Digits Continue Reading →