Always Connected to Everything, Everywhere

By Alan

I loved this illustration of storage of data as it has developed over the years. We older folks forget how much data we now store quite easily with billions of characters of storage in something smaller than a piece of gum that we carry in our pocket, and ready access to music or data through universally available wireless connections. The current Black Friday deals have hard drives around $100 that can store almost 48,000 hours (2TB drives). If you want to save 5 years worth of music, you can store it cheaply and quickly.

In the same way that anyone under 40 doesn't remember a time when you couldn't call overseas on the telephone, and everyone in a small town knew the telephone operators by name, consider that the kids born today will have no recollection of what it meant to have the phone ring with no answer, either human or robotic. It's difficult to buy a phone without an answering machine in it or a phone number without the capacity for an answering service.

Now, with new technologies like Google Voice, one can call one number and have all the house phone, cell phone, and work phone ring at the same time. If the person doesn't answer, the voicemail gets transcribed into text, and immediately emailed to them. No missing the person who wants to be found.

What is this going to do to communications? What is it going to do to society and families?

Teenagers going out no longer have the excuse of being late without calling. Parents no longer have the excuse they didn't get the message. Cell phones already report their locations, and no one can lie about where they are calling from.

Anyone who says they can predict what it is going to mean, is probably lying or doesn't know any better. This will have ramifications beyond the technological. This will change the nature of living.