PROBABLE Prediction 2006.1

Submitted 17th June, 1996 by SalesSense
[email protected]

Prediction:

People will work anywhere. Few will have permanent employment.

Objective measurement:

Census and bureau of statistics data will show that less than 10% have had the same (non-self) employer for the last five years.

When:

31st December, 2006

Why:

Palm top communications computers will rapidly take the place of mobile telephones, notebook and palm top computers. All three functions will be combined in one unit. Video communications will be a feature of top models. Input via voice, hand writing and typing will be featured. A new generation will begin to dispense with paper as a means of storing information. Online news will be filtered according to the readers' taste and requirements. Our personal reference library's, predominantly held on paper today, will be stored as a collection of references to on-line data, any where in the world. A place to meet will become more important than a place of work. Many of us will work where ever we are comfortable. The holy grail of a paperless office will be within our grasp, just as we cease to need an office.

Those who are masters of themselves and can adapt to the new freedom will be better able to generate wealth. Many more of us will be creating our own projects to seek meaningful work. Global pooling of talent will be common place. National differences and culture will continue to merge. Communications companies will provide real time language translation via their computers. The growing popularity of long distance friendships will be driving the expansion of global trade. Right now, you wouldn't risk a chunk of money to buy a bargain from an unknown company, 5000 miles away. In ten years time you will have distant friends who know someone who recommends the company 5000 miles away. Just as personal recommendation works for us in a local community, or a country, It will work globally as we come to trust people we have only met via the global network.

The power and vulnerability of democracy will be truly exposed. Opinion polls will take much larger samples, much more regularly. There accuracy will be impossible to ignore. Governments will listen to the people, with or without referendums. Network opinion polls will become a regular and popular event. With almost immediate feedback, their appeal will be irresistible. Some television programs have explored this avenue today. An audience is encouraged to call different numbers to vote for different options. Calls are counted by computers. In ten years the TV remote will have voting buttons as standard. Audience participation in TV shows will be the norm. Nine out of ten people watching, will vote. Opinion testing will be tried out across many countries simultaneously. Even global polls will be taken. The weight of public opinion, foreign and national, will have far greater impact on government. Repression will be impossible without isolation. Minority view points will be exposed for what they are.

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