RnaLabs

“Microsoft gave a public showing of its futurologist vision of 2019 the other day at the Wharton Business Technology Conference, and it’s set the interwebs a-quiver with excitement. But if you have a bit of time to think about it, it’s actually not very visionary at all.

Gizmodo’s Jason Chen loved it, quoting Arthur C. Clarke’s famous Third Law: “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The Industry Standard’s Paul Boutin suggests “More important than whizzy interfaces, the videos promise much more extensive collaboration, instant information retrieval, and multimedia communication.” And “2019″ has  appeared all over the place because it’s from Microsoft, and that’s a name that carries almost limitless clout.

Which is why it’s surprising the video is actually so uninspiring.

The references to Minority Report are unmistakable: Transparent “air screens” with gestural controls, handheld computers with see-through screens that you can hold over a larger display to “capture” the info. Everything is touch-controlled, with gestural inputs and with seamless wireless information transfer from one device to another–the concept of a “file” is conspicuously absent–and that’s very Tom Cruise. There’s also much use of color e-paper with a touch-surface, and modular cellphones with interactive touch-sensitive exteriors and screens. Location-based services show up, with the “corporate visitor” chap being located (presumably by some smart RFID/GPS/LPS tech in his phone) and directed to his destination by smart-display floor tiles.”

Links:
Article by Kit Eaton @ Fast Company

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