What does the next decade hold for technology?

1990s were mostly about the .com boom and then at the turn of the century we saw the bubble bust. 2000s brought us social networking, smart-phones and PDAs. Now that we at the boom of Social networking and smart-phones, tablets, etc., I cant control but wonder what will be the next big thing 10 years from now.

I personally feel - it will be highly personalize-able products with a human factor/human touch.

Hear me out. I feel bio-tech is the next big thing. 10 years from now.

We all will be so over-whelmed by 'social news' from all these social networking site, we will feel shallow inside - which will arise the need of personalized items - like mood boosters, one hour makeover devices etc. These bio-technological devices will read your body temperature, body vitals, estrogen/testosterone levels, adrenalin levels, blood sugar level etc - to find and suggest ways to either boost your mood or to calm you down.

Another high use of this could be for not-so-severe case of sleep apnea patients. 1-2 hours before going to bed, there will be a device which will suggest you steps to take for a better night sleep, etc.

In summary, technology will move away from social networking to personalized items; and bio-tech will have a huge role to play in it.

Only time will tell. Countdown begins...

Body Adaptable Thermostat

Every time I wake up, I am either sweating or very cold.

This is because we fool ourselves by believing that we know what our room temperature should be that will keep us comfortable through the night. I feel that sleeping body temperature requirements are way different than when you are up.

So, rather than having a thermostat to control/maintain the room temp, here is what I would like. A (tiny) device that I attach to my body that constantly monitors my surface body temp and changes the thermostat settings (wirelessly) accordingly. If my body temperature is falling, it will increase the room temperature a bit, and if my body temp is rising, it will lower the room temperature.

If there are two people in the room, it should average it out and so on... I think it will be very simple to implement.

Quick connect phone to computer

How many times have I wished I had this feature in all of my previous smart phones? A gazillion times in the last 7 odd years I've had smart phones. I thought some phone maker will come up with this, but nothing.

So many times, I am in front of the computer and I get a call on my cell phone. At that moment, I just wish I can 'move the call to my PC'. The connectivity is there. The USB cable for my iPhone can connect and send the audio out/in directly to the PC. Heck, forget USB - both my PC and iphone are wifi capable, and are bluetooth capable.

On the same lines - if I have to use any apps on my phone, why cannot I just get an interface (itunes feature???) where I can see and click/touch the phone screen from my PC. How difficult is that? e.g. Finding Happy hours in Sacramento using the 'Happy Hours' iPhone app. :)

Still nothing much I can do to control apps from my phone.

Or send text from a full PC keyboard than the tiny QWERTY phone keyboard (without using a third party app like google voice that buffers and potentially reads my SMS).

In a nutshell, I feel there is definitely a need of a 'Quick Connect' feature in all smartphones that lets you control anything and everything that you can control from the phone itself.

User based Email Alerts

This is so simple and yet most smart phones do not have it. I would REALLY love to have user based email alerts. e.g. if Ruchi sends me an email I want my phone to play a sound, but if someone from my office sends me an email, I do not care - it can wait.

So simple, yet I am still waiting for it.

Knork or a Fonife?

If someone came up with a Spork and it is more or less a huge success; Why not a knife-Fork combo. There are so many time people who are just using a Fork to eat - cut their food with the side of the Fork and it is such a pain to cut with the side of a Fork. Why cant we have the side of the Fork like a blunt knife? Or at least one side of the Fork?

I would definitely use a Knork.

Advertisements on road intersections.

I know this sounds scary and dangerous for drivers, but hear me out. Everytime you are stuck on a red light, the 'square' right where two roads intersect at a 90 degree angle is where I want to place Ads. The Ad will only be visible to you if ALL signals that you can see are RED (left turn, right turn, and the one for going straight). The traffic that has green light will not be able to see it.

How you implement it: Projections: Just project the image of an Ad onto the 'square' and with some 3D magic make it visible to only one (or two) directions where cars are at a stand still because of the red light.

Groomsmen/Bridesmaid Rentals

I recently got invited to be a Groomsman for a friend's wedding. I feel it will be a really cool idea to have a rental place for Groomsmen and Bridesmaids clothing for the wedding, reception, and any other group activity like bachelor's party. One stop shop for every one close to the Groom and Bride. And once it gains popularity, it can expand from clothing to other key rentals.