Some interesting events have happened in the past few days and weeks that are making me think about the future.
Event #1: Senator John Culberson's Qik Videos
We have an actual senator who carries around his Nokia N85 and video tapes a lot of what he does today, twittering constantly throughout the day, updating anyone who is interested about bills, people, votes, etc.
Except "video tape" is the wrong phrase. Let me see, what's a better way to say it? How does "live streaming video that shows up instantly on your screen" sound? Yes, he's using the Qik service to do that (www.qik.com), as are a surprising number of other people (non senators), such as Scoble and others.
With Qik, you (the viewer) can type messages in a chat window which the Senator can see, such as questions for the individual he happens to be interviewing! You have a voice in politics, in a sense, directly inside the happenings and events of what's really going on there. I've seen senator Culberson on many occasions repeat a question someone typed on the chat window, to the person he's interviewing. How awesome is that?
Senator Culberson spends a good amount of time explaining his technology to all the politicos around him who had to hire interns to handle their own email. I seriously hope they don't squelch this type of communication. I have learned a lot from the few weeks of watching the senator's postings on Twitter, and watching his videos. I've learned that a lot of the conspiracy inclinations people have are wrong; there's a real explanation behind something that sounds like a conspiracy at first.
I am totally for this technology.
Event #2: Twit Live 24 Hour iPhone 3G Vigil
Leo Laporte, foremost podcast entrepreneur and videocaster just had a 24-hour long live video session, on the day of the iPhone 3G release from Apple. He interviewed a wide range of popular knowledgable computer people in the industry, as well as regular folks who just bought their iPhones in various parts of the world including Canada and Australia. He fielded phone calls from anyone who wanted to call in and talk. He took bathroom breaks. His daughter came in to hang out for a while, then left.
He learned all kinds of useful iPhone information, together with us, his viewers, such as how to take a screen-snapshot with the new edition of the software available for all iPhones (hold the main button in and press the top button; the screen will flash; now go look in your pictures for the snapshot).
Watching his show was mesmerising. I had work to do but I couldn't stop. I left it running in a window while I worked on Friday, I probably watched about 3 hours of it in various doses at a time throughout the day; listening to it when I couldn't see it (as my active windows covered his video cast).
I worked on an emergency project until 11PM then watched some more. Sometime around midnight I had to go to bed; I forgot and left it running all nite.
What the Future will be like
I am imagining a cool future where everyone has their own 24 hour video display of themselves and all the cool things they're seeing. They're sharing it with all their friends, anywhere in the world, all of the time.
Yes you can turn it off or walk away from it when you want to; but don't you want to share awesome things you see or hear or discover with your friends? Especially if you go to the zoo, the park, a new city, on vacation, etc.
Cameras are really small and light now, and getting cheaper and better practically every month. I imagine we'll have some way of automatically holding a camera that can show our face, and another one pointing in the direction of what we're actually seeing. It seems stupid to have something strapped to your head; I think it can be done without going that far. Perhaps some technology like that used in the Matrix 3 movie, virtual-camera technology, which can reproduce a view in a place where no camera can possibly be (such as right in front of your face pointing directly at you). If it can be done in 2003 for millions of dollars, then of course it will be doable in the year 2012 for $19.95!
Perhaps we'll have a standard for "3 camera view" (1 pointed at us, 1 at what we're seeing, 1 directly behind us). By having all video viewers displaying these 3 images in a standard location and size in relation to each other all the time, it will become natural to comprehend the person's surroundings and view in your mind, by simply watching their video. It's like looking in a rear-view mirror in a car: it didn't make sense when you first learned to drive, but now you can tell where vehicles are all around you, you naturally know, when you drive down the road today. Your body adapted to the little rectangle of different-picture that is your rear-view mirror, and your mind converts it to the knowledge of cars slowly passing on the left, falling behind you on the right, coming up quickly behind you because you're in the fast lane not going fast enough, etc.
All these tiny video cameras need a computer of some sort to manage everything, and broadcast the composite video stream to the Internet, live. Perhaps in the future computers will be woven into the fabric of our clothes - how light weight and easy will that be to carry around with us. Perhaps ultralight solar cells, also in the fabric, will be the power source to these ultra-low-power devices.
Your computer will have a video-viewer application with live video streaming of everyone in your family, your friends, anyone who "friended" you. Your retired parents and college professors can see what your up to (ok, well, perhaps there should be some limits).
Crime Drops to Zero
Imagine what will happen if most people in society have this kind of equipment. This is more powerful than any handgun! Nobody can take advantage of you, lie to you, cheat you and deny it later; you have it all on video, and your close friends all witnessed it. It was recorded someplace for posterity, and can be replayed in a court of law at any time. "Do you remember the face of the man who robbed you?" No, I was scared; but I have it on video right here. "But the thief stole your video equipment!" "yes, but it was streaming live to the Internet; all my friends had a copy 10 milliseconds after it happened." Regarding the disappearance of that person last week; let's go back and watch the past 48 hours of video they recorded to see where they were last. Nice.
I think about these things a lot, and I am excited to see actual accomplishments being taken in our world that match what I know we'll have in the future.
All that having been said... I be jonezin for a Nokia N95 and an iPhone 3G, I need both. :)
Event #1: Senator John Culberson's Qik Videos
We have an actual senator who carries around his Nokia N85 and video tapes a lot of what he does today, twittering constantly throughout the day, updating anyone who is interested about bills, people, votes, etc.
Except "video tape" is the wrong phrase. Let me see, what's a better way to say it? How does "live streaming video that shows up instantly on your screen" sound? Yes, he's using the Qik service to do that (www.qik.com), as are a surprising number of other people (non senators), such as Scoble and others.
With Qik, you (the viewer) can type messages in a chat window which the Senator can see, such as questions for the individual he happens to be interviewing! You have a voice in politics, in a sense, directly inside the happenings and events of what's really going on there. I've seen senator Culberson on many occasions repeat a question someone typed on the chat window, to the person he's interviewing. How awesome is that?
Senator Culberson spends a good amount of time explaining his technology to all the politicos around him who had to hire interns to handle their own email. I seriously hope they don't squelch this type of communication. I have learned a lot from the few weeks of watching the senator's postings on Twitter, and watching his videos. I've learned that a lot of the conspiracy inclinations people have are wrong; there's a real explanation behind something that sounds like a conspiracy at first.
I am totally for this technology.
Event #2: Twit Live 24 Hour iPhone 3G Vigil
Leo Laporte, foremost podcast entrepreneur and videocaster just had a 24-hour long live video session, on the day of the iPhone 3G release from Apple. He interviewed a wide range of popular knowledgable computer people in the industry, as well as regular folks who just bought their iPhones in various parts of the world including Canada and Australia. He fielded phone calls from anyone who wanted to call in and talk. He took bathroom breaks. His daughter came in to hang out for a while, then left.
He learned all kinds of useful iPhone information, together with us, his viewers, such as how to take a screen-snapshot with the new edition of the software available for all iPhones (hold the main button in and press the top button; the screen will flash; now go look in your pictures for the snapshot).
Watching his show was mesmerising. I had work to do but I couldn't stop. I left it running in a window while I worked on Friday, I probably watched about 3 hours of it in various doses at a time throughout the day; listening to it when I couldn't see it (as my active windows covered his video cast).
I worked on an emergency project until 11PM then watched some more. Sometime around midnight I had to go to bed; I forgot and left it running all nite.
What the Future will be like
I am imagining a cool future where everyone has their own 24 hour video display of themselves and all the cool things they're seeing. They're sharing it with all their friends, anywhere in the world, all of the time.
Yes you can turn it off or walk away from it when you want to; but don't you want to share awesome things you see or hear or discover with your friends? Especially if you go to the zoo, the park, a new city, on vacation, etc.
Cameras are really small and light now, and getting cheaper and better practically every month. I imagine we'll have some way of automatically holding a camera that can show our face, and another one pointing in the direction of what we're actually seeing. It seems stupid to have something strapped to your head; I think it can be done without going that far. Perhaps some technology like that used in the Matrix 3 movie, virtual-camera technology, which can reproduce a view in a place where no camera can possibly be (such as right in front of your face pointing directly at you). If it can be done in 2003 for millions of dollars, then of course it will be doable in the year 2012 for $19.95!
Perhaps we'll have a standard for "3 camera view" (1 pointed at us, 1 at what we're seeing, 1 directly behind us). By having all video viewers displaying these 3 images in a standard location and size in relation to each other all the time, it will become natural to comprehend the person's surroundings and view in your mind, by simply watching their video. It's like looking in a rear-view mirror in a car: it didn't make sense when you first learned to drive, but now you can tell where vehicles are all around you, you naturally know, when you drive down the road today. Your body adapted to the little rectangle of different-picture that is your rear-view mirror, and your mind converts it to the knowledge of cars slowly passing on the left, falling behind you on the right, coming up quickly behind you because you're in the fast lane not going fast enough, etc.
All these tiny video cameras need a computer of some sort to manage everything, and broadcast the composite video stream to the Internet, live. Perhaps in the future computers will be woven into the fabric of our clothes - how light weight and easy will that be to carry around with us. Perhaps ultralight solar cells, also in the fabric, will be the power source to these ultra-low-power devices.
Your computer will have a video-viewer application with live video streaming of everyone in your family, your friends, anyone who "friended" you. Your retired parents and college professors can see what your up to (ok, well, perhaps there should be some limits).
Crime Drops to Zero
Imagine what will happen if most people in society have this kind of equipment. This is more powerful than any handgun! Nobody can take advantage of you, lie to you, cheat you and deny it later; you have it all on video, and your close friends all witnessed it. It was recorded someplace for posterity, and can be replayed in a court of law at any time. "Do you remember the face of the man who robbed you?" No, I was scared; but I have it on video right here. "But the thief stole your video equipment!" "yes, but it was streaming live to the Internet; all my friends had a copy 10 milliseconds after it happened." Regarding the disappearance of that person last week; let's go back and watch the past 48 hours of video they recorded to see where they were last. Nice.
I think about these things a lot, and I am excited to see actual accomplishments being taken in our world that match what I know we'll have in the future.
All that having been said... I be jonezin for a Nokia N95 and an iPhone 3G, I need both. :)
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