High-speed connections promise lifestyle improvements _ but when?

SF Gate ^ | 3/10/02 | ANICK JESDANUN

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

The trip to the doctor's office could be the exception one day. A wearable sensor or a digital camera may provide the physician all that's needed to get you a diagnosis online.

Likewise, programming your home VCR from the office could become commonplace. So could turning up the heat remotely as you drive home.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

The article didn't mention all of the overseas capabilities, think of the day when the market... is 24/7.

Then again remember Global Crossing which the media fails to discuss as well? Ever wonder who might be "listening"?

[Denver Ditdat]

Christopher Evans made many similar predictions back in the late 70s in his book "The Micro Millenium". I was enthused by the visions of the world we'd be living in come the turn of the 21st century. With 20 hour workweeks, six weeks of vacation yearly, and retirement at age 50, who wouldn't be? Needless to say, I'm still waiting.

Some of his other predictions fared better, such as computer gaming as a major pastime.

This all reminds me of reading old predictions for any new technology. In the late 40s, television was touted as a new medium for education and culture. The pundits described how we would all be watching live opera at the Met, "attending" college classes via TV, and watching world masters compete in chess tournaments. Sure, that happens, but the majority of the viewing population would rather kick back with a brew and watch MTV's "Jackass".

My own prediction as to how a big pipe to every home will be used:

Porn.

I may be wrong, but history is on my side.