Quote:
Originally Posted by barryem
I hate to disagree with someone who's agreeing with me, but. 
I don't think it's off-topic at all. "Magnificent Ambersons" is about how society is affected by a huge shift in technology. I suggested it because I think it's good reading to get perspective on this topic.
Our shift to an internet economy is new, of course, but the earlier shift to a car based economy was almost as big a change and understanding the impact of it gives insights into the impact of the present shift. I didn't suggest the book just because it's a good read.
Barry |
That is spot on. The next logical step is the removal of transportation of goods (the end of retail, period). The technology is already half baked there. There is 3D printers to make stuff. We can already grow synthetic meat in a lab. Transportation of people will then disappear soon after. Why travel when you cannot distinguish reality from VR? Current wireless information transmission will be obsolete, to be replaced by instant quantum transfer to span any distance. We will leave earth before the sun has a chance to swallow us up, probably long before as resources run out. Either that or we are headed into a Matrix-style future. The end of humanity as we know it.
Fun times ahead of us. I sure hope they don't invent immortality before I die and have to live that nightmare.