Ask Slashdot: What Is Missing In Tech Today?

dryriver writes: There is so much tech and gadget news pouring out of the internet every day that one might think "everything tech that is needed already exists." But of course, people thought precisely that at various points in human history, and then completely new tools, technologies, processes, designs, devices and innovations came along soon after and changed everything. Sometimes the opposite also happens: tech that was really good for its day and used to exist is suddenly no longer available. For example, many people miss the very usable Psion palmtop computers with their foldout QWERTY keyboards, touchscreens, and styluses; or would have liked the Commodore Amiga with its innovative custom chips and OS to continue existing and evolving; or would have liked to be able to keep using software like Softimage XSI or Adobe Director, which were suddenly discontinued.

So here is the question: what tech, in your particular profession, industry, personal area of interest, or scientific or academic field, is currently "missing?" This can be tech that is needed but does not exist yet, either hardware or software, or some kind of mechanical device or process. It could also be tech that was available in the past, but was EOL'd or "End Of Lifed" and never came back in an updated or evolved form. Bonus question: if what you feel is "missing" could quite feasibly be engineered, produced, and sold today at a profit, what do you think is the reason it isn't available?

Comments

Open Standards

[Anonymous Coward]

Open standards are what we're missing. Things like Apple's AirDrop provide a rich tool for sharing all kinds of content, but only within the Apple ecosystem. Tools like this and others can only truly be useful when they are open and interoperable with the majority of devices on the market. Closed ecosystems are limiting the potential for technology to improve communication across the board and eliminate paper.

Re:Open Standards

[arglebargle_xiv]

Reliability is what we're missing. 99% of IT today is like an incontinent toddler, it needs constant maintenance and mucking out and patching and updating just to keep it running. Not to add new capabilities, but just to keep it running. Compare that to a car, for which the expectation is that you turn the key and it starts up and goes where you want, without first needing to be rebooted and patched and the firmware reflashed and the networking reconfigured every time.

Re:Open Standards

[Anonymous Coward]

Imho, the trouble with software began when vendors decided it was cheaper to pay lawyers than coders. Instead of building a product that works, they created interminable license "agreements", whose sole purpose is to exonerate them of liability for anything. No other industry could get away with this.

Re:AI

[ShanghaiBill]

The premise of summary is silly. I NEVER think "everything tech that is needed already exists." To the contrary, I am frustrated at how much stuff isn't available yet. WERE IS MY FLYING CAR!?!?! Where is my household robot? It is 2018, and I still need to manually load the dishwasher, and take out the garbage. WTF? How about a voice assistant that actually understands reality? How about really good telepresence so I don't have to go to work? How about a vacation on the moon? I could list a zillion other things.

Privacy

[Anonymous Coward]

Privacy.

An entire concept is missing:

[Gravis Zero]

Privacy. Every asshole corp. is trying to bleed you for data they can sell.

Re: Common sense and decency

[c6gunner]

Wrong is a woman showing her face in public; right is stoning her to death after she gets raped. Duh. Everyone who was raise right knows these things.