In keeping with the theme of Florence during the Renaissance, this is part of a series of posts around what various industry influencers consider promising - or in some cases over hyped - technologies. It goes way beyond the current buzz around Web 2.0. Some technologies/tools are available today - others are still a work in progress, and applications will take a while to be commericially viable. Not all may directly influence information technology, but as we know advances in most branches of science eventually impact others.
I liked the taxonomy ExtremeTech, a Ziff Davis site uses to organize its materials on emerging technologies
3G Networks- The evolution of wireless networks into voice, video and data.
Bio Chips- Technology inside the body.
Digital Paper- Foldable, persistent electronic displays and e-ink.
Digital Rights Management- The war over content, and the
rights to use it.
eBooks- Publishing in the electronic age.
Fiber- Last-mile, high-speed broadband.
Fuel Cells- Techniques and implementations of alternative fuels.
GPS- Finding your way in the digital age.
Grid Computing- Distributed computing, thousands of servers, one Web site.
Identity Management - The pros and cons of warehousing
personal information.
Internet2- How the next-generation Internet is being used.
IPv6 -Tracking the shift toward the complex, next-generation
IP addressing scheme.
LCOS- Liquid Crystal on Silicon technology, displays and enhancements.
Mesh Networks - How WiFi networks are being tied together
into municipal broadband.
Nanotechnology - Enhancements in science, medicine and technology at the molecular level.
Organic LEDs - The problems and potentials of low-cost,
self-luminous displays.
Photonic Computing -Computing with light—instead of electricity.
RFID -Dog tags for the digital age—the devices and the
deployments.
Robots - The evolving robot, in automation, medicine, and the home.
RSS -The evolution of content distribution on the Web.
Satellite Radios - Coast-to-coast radio, in your pocket and your car.
Sensors -Without sensors, there is no detection. And with no
detection, there is no control.
Smart Home - How technologies like voice recognition, Bluetooth, and Z-Wave will automate the home of the future.
Solar Power- How researchers and corporations are using the
sun as an alternative fuel source.
Ultrawideband - From Wireless USB to wireless surround sound, UWB is leading the way.
VOIP -The handsets, services, and technologies allowing you
to make phone calls over the Internet.
WiMax - Intel has high hopes that this will replace DSL and cable broadband. We’ll tell you if it will.
Zigbee -Making sense of this cool-sounding technology for
unwiring home automation.
