The future – what’s happening?

Last Tuesday I gave a lecture about social media. One of the participants asked me about what I believe will happen in the future. I hesitated to answer, because really, it’s impossible to answer!

But then I thought about it a little bit more. Maybe there are a few tracks to follow?

1. Apple rules. Their usual competitors are running wild in order to copy tablets, iOS and MacOS. I don’t worry a bit about that. To have them running around like whimsy chickens blowing their money on imitating is just embarrassing. But, if someone would come up with an idea that’s not created in order to copy Apple’s solutions, an idea that is original, visionary and makes life better for a lot of people – THEN I will raise my eyebrow. I would really like to see an idea like that, because even though I love Apple, I also love true creativity and ideas that emerges from the heart. (Right, and that’s why I love Apple…)
2. Cloud-solutions. Apple’s iCloud together with other cloud-solutions will decrease the need for storage space on the individual computer. Assuming that we will have access to fast internet. This is exciting. How will it affect our in-house design? Will we surround ourselves with a lot of screens in different sizes and with different functions linked to that cloud?
3. Smart energy-solutions and recycling systems. I understand that Apple get critics for not making a bigger effort to recycle computers or give old computers to developing countries so that the schools can use them. I believe that all producers of electronically devices needs to get better on developing smart energy solutions and build in recyclability (is that a word?)
4. E-books in Swedish, well, in other languages than english that is. By some reason it’s still difficult to find e-books in Swedish. I usually buy english e-books at Amazon and I read them in their Kindle-app.
5. Pay with your iPhone. We already use an app invented by PayEx on Gotland. With the app it’s easy to pay in shops or cafés with your iPhone. I think it would be cool if their app got a big market share, but I guess there are a lot of competitors. Anyway, I’m sure that the iPhone will play an important role for future payments.
6. Facebook and Google+, hm, tricky! The first question is if Google+ will manage to get as many users as Facebook. The second question is if Facebook will cope with handling all their 750 millions of user (more to come…!) – because already today Facebook can give a quite shaky impression and for each update the users get a bit confused. I think that Google+ biggest potential is if Facebook messes up it’s UI and I’m sorry to say that they seem to follow a rather slippery road… But, it will take some time until Google+ will reach 750 millions of users. Facebook’s biggest strength is their number of users. ”Everyone” has joined Facebook – except the still surviving stubborns…