THE FUTURE HAS COME TO US WHETHER WE ARE READY OR NOT

We are now in an era where everyday objects are growing smarter and smarter. It’s happening all around us, but especially in our automobiles. And if it’s there it will be in our kitchens or bathrooms soon. Can cars that drive themselves be far behind? There is computerization of everything. They choose our music, control room lighting, generally modify the environment we live in, monitor our foods and even the activities we perform in, plus the people involved. Professor Donald A. Norman has written a great book on a subject he knows much about and it’s called THE DESIGN OF FUTURE THINGS. Don is a professor of Design at Northwestern University. He tells a simple story of how societies are being driven by design and innovation: Everyone owns a mobile phone in Korea and they are now into serious development of new services to offer. These include phones that tell you when you are near your friends, paying your bills on your mobile, getting transportation schedules, buying food items from vending machines, and the list is endless.

Robots are coming, he tells us. They will manage things like your health care and monitoring your medications, taking care of security in your home, performing educational services, running errands and giving entertainment, search and rescue missions, and certainly military operations. We certainly have the robot vacuum systems and lawn mowers that take over today. They will be deep in our fridges and will automatically order foods for us when we run out. What our children will experience in the next fifty years or so is truly amazing. We already see little ones able to perform many computer operations we older folks can’t even comprehend.

But what will this do to us and the ways we think and live? Our brains will not change too much but maybe will be more efficient through less actual thinking. It is important to keep in mind that adapting to technology is hardly a new phenomenon. From the first tools onward we have always faced change. Imagine what it was like to wire our homes for electricity at the turn of the 20th century, or having indoor plumbing, or radios and televisions, and even cell phones that seem to get smaller every day. Us who are aging at a seemingly faster rate will see some comfort in automation and electronic care. It is the designers who will be in charge of all of this and their careful creativity will be so very important to our lives. This is a great primer in what we face as citizens and individuals and is highly recommended.