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What's the Next Big Thing in Tech? It's Up To Us (wsj.com)

Posted by msmash on from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.

If it feels like new technologies go from flights of fancy to billion-dollar businesses faster than ever, that's because they do. From a column (which may be paywalled): Consider that Uber, founded in 2009, started allowing drivers to sign up with their own cars in 2013. Five short years later, the company operates in more than 70 countries and competes with dozens of copycats. It's considering going public in 2019 at a potential valuation of $120 billion, which would make it the biggest IPO in U.S. history by far. When novel software can go from hackathon to app store overnight, and even complex hardware can hit manufacturing lines in months, the determining factor of success is us -- as consumers, workers, even regulators. If the pitch works and we bite, a technology can quickly transform our social norms.

At the WSJ Tech D. Live conference in Laguna Beach, Calif., this week, what became apparent across dozens of talks, classes and informal chats is that, when almost anything we can dream up is possible, the most important factors in the spread of technology are now cultural. Not every new development in technology leads to an Uber-scale industry, of course, but here are five trends that highlight this shift. China's success in addressing tech needs at home has made it a global leader. As Google struggles with walkouts and morale at Facebook craters, many workers at Chinese startups are so committed to their work that they've adopted a grueling schedule called 996 -- 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. In 2018, China will eclipse the U.S. in spending on R&D, projects the National Science Board.

Patrick Collison, chief executive of Stripe, talked about how much of Asia is leapfrogging the West because there isn't tons of old infrastructure -- like gas-guzzling car fleets -- to update, so the latest technology catches on right away. In China, this is especially true in payments, which are now overwhelmingly made through mobile phones. The world's leading face-recognition and drone companies are in China, and its electric-vehicle, autonomous-driving and AI companies are already on par with their U.S. counterparts, said Kai-Fu Lee, former president of Google China and current head of technology-investment firm Sinovation Ventures. China's mission rests on techies dedicated to building the future for its billion-plus population -- achieving global technological dominance en route.

87 comments

  1. Max Headroom... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I see the day where some Max Headroom like personalty will invade every device on the web.

    1. Re: Max Headroom... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the western world it will be a lesbian n1gger.

  2. Whatever replaces systemd by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    n/c

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:Whatever replaces systemd by mermeid007 · · Score: 1

      Before you starting writing code, understand the problem you are solving. Think about how people use tech.

      Understand what they do on a regular basis. What bugs them the most about their day?

      What do they care about? Do they have pets? Do they give to charities?

      What do they buy for a snack at work? Why do they make their bed a certain way?

      Why do they walk down one aisle and not the other?

      What did they want to be when they grew up? What is their favorite color?

      What do they pause and look at when they are walking past a particular place?

      What is the culture where they grew up? Do they rinse and repeat or just rinse?

      How long does it take to brush their hair? When do they decide what shoes to wear? At the door or before that?

      Answering questions like these will give you a much better idea where to put tech. Does tech belong everywhere? Behind every gadget? Inside every smart device, splashed all over your iWatch? Ask these questions and that's where the profit begins

    2. Re:Whatever replaces systemd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean your whining isn't getting it done?

  3. Sad by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is pathetic that Slashdot considers Uber and Facebook "tech". They are just businesses and won't be around long.

    1. Re: Sad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Uber and FB speaks volumes of the moral character of the masses.

    2. Re:Sad by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      By way of visiting reality for a moment, /. is not the author of the article.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    3. Re:Sad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1. Uber is just a taxi medallion dodge that spends VC, and Facebook is a fancy web forum filled with tracker spam. Yay. Not exciting, not new, not techy at all, really. I bet a kid in college could make Facebook. Oh wait ...

    4. Re: Sad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Iâ(TM)d pay for a portable cock sucking machine, and for a new society that accepts public cock sucking as norm.

    5. Re: Sad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have nailed it so very perfectly. Other than the appalling abandonment of ethics tech folks have displayed, there is literally nothing 'new' about anything in tech of the past 10 - 15 years, not even the smart phone (Apple just figured out a way to make 'normal', as in non-tech geek, people want one). It's pretty embarrassing how wealthy some of these people have gotten, all things considered.

  4. Something addictive and exploitative by DogDude · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It's going to be something addictive and exploitative, of course. Something that's going to made pervasive phone/app addiction look tame by comparison.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:Something addictive and exploitative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Advertisers should invest in a neural implant that stimulates the pleasure center of the brain whenever the user views an ad.

    2. Re:Something addictive and exploitative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or Blipverts.

    3. Re:Something addictive and exploitative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's going to be something addictive and exploitative, of course. Something that's going to made pervasive phone/app addiction look tame by comparison.

      Let's stop being delusional.

      Whatever the next big thing is, it's going to be already patented, and will be mired in legal battles that consumers seem to find amusing.

  5. China by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Between the lines, China is a meat grinder, chewing up its tech workers for small rewards, and throwing privacy on the bonfire of the communist party.
    Can't think why "Sinovation Ventures" doesn't want to put it quite as truthfully...

    1. Re:China by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... a meat grinder, chewing up its tech workers for small rewards ...

      Are you talking about the Silicon Valley?

  6. If you are looking to invest by bobstreo · · Score: 2

    I'd go with:

    Solid State, Self Driving Social Networks using Blockchain.

    ('d sell quickly afterward,

    1. Re:If you are looking to invest by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I'd go with:

      Solid State

      Well damn. I still have my stereo receiver from the late 1960's It has a metal badge on the front proudly declaring it is "Solid State". I'm pretty sure I still have a transistor radio somewhere from that time period that is also "solid state" Unfortunately my TV with a solid state badge has been gone for some time now.

      BTW, your idea will obviously fail. It has no AI/deep learning/machine learning and no cloud.

    2. Re:If you are looking to invest by CaptainDork · · Score: 0

      You insensitive clod.

      You left out quantum qubits in a paradigm-shifting algorithmic panoramic inductive-force ionic infusion non-ferratic indimeous pratallatic vibranium source.

      Gee willikers.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    3. Re:If you are looking to invest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Solid Driver of Social State using Self Networked Blockchain would get better returns.

    4. Re:If you are looking to invest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd go with:

      Solid State, Self Driving Social Networks using Blockchain.

      ('d sell quickly afterward,

      They don't use Deep Learning? So passé.

  7. Yes the Chinese are already ahead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because they don't have pesky plebeians to get in the way of the bold new progress. I guess Orwellian beats our Brave New World. Its a shame they lead us on such brave technical feats such as face recognition everywhere, social credit scores for a wonderful cast system, and also phone payment! You can pau with your phone instead of a card!!! Woooohoo so worth it.

  8. What's with the Yellow Peril narrative? by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1, Troll

    So I can't help but notice that this starts out with what do we want to do and finishes with "fear of the foreigners" scaremongering that would not have been out of place in a Fu Manchu novel in which the Yellow Peril will consume us all. It was bullshit then and it's bullshit now. What's the deal? Why the sudden xenophobia? It's totally out of place, off topic, and racist and nativist.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    1. Re:What's with the Yellow Peril narrative? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No it's well justified. China is an industrialised shithole filled with insectoid uggos. Even more relevant now that those bugs are building some chinky east-german nightmare state.

    2. Re: What's with the Yellow Peril narrative? by Type44Q · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Why the sudden xenophobia?

      Why ask questions when you're not interested in the answers??

    3. Re:What's with the Yellow Peril narrative? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Why the sudden xenophobia?

      There is nothing "sudden" about xenophobia. It has been around since the cro-magnon invaders wiped out the neanderthals. Xenophobia is the natural state of humanity.

      Even ants will kill any ant that is not a member of their colony.

    4. Re: What's with the Yellow Peril narrative? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why the sudden xenophobia?

      Why ask questions when you're not interested in the answers??

      Pray tell, what answers??

    5. Re:What's with the Yellow Peril narrative? by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      What's it doing on Slashdot in a summary? It's disgusting and needs to be ostracized whenever it appears in public.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    6. Re: What's with the Yellow Peril narrative? by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      Oh, you can read my mind? Amazing. Can you demonstrate your talent again? Tell me what I had for breakfast?

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    7. Re: What's with the Yellow Peril narrative? by skam240 · · Score: 1

      Shit?

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
    8. Re:What's with the Yellow Peril narrative? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      China is an industrialised shithole filled with insectoid uggos.

      Sounds just like New Jersey.

  9. Anal prolapse enhancers... Wait! They exist! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    systemd....

  10. more fun for us by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    I'm thinking a blue tooth enabled pet rock.

  11. 5G AND Ai in Combination by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No doubt we are enjoying technologies of Ai Ml and more but 5G is yet to come, But this could be dangerous for us when these will go more advanced and work together might overpass humans !

    1. Re:5G AND Ai in Combination by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes MAN i am agreed to you. Machine Learning , AI and 5G Technology we are thinking to be awesome for us but deep inside when specially the 1st two will get more advanced could be dangerous for us only if we won't be able to control them

  12. US dollar not worth shit anymore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Uber at $120 billion? I can't stop laughing I'm losing my breath

  13. If you can't make good things, make "big things". by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    > Consider that Uber, founded in 2009, started allowing drivers to sign up with their own cars in 2013. Five short years later, the company operates in more than 70 countries and competes with dozens of copycats.

    Consider that whatever potential you may have had at your birth, and that N disgusting, grueling years later, you're pumping out this kind of copy.

    > If the pitch works and we bite, a technology can quickly transform our social norms.

    You were just talking about quick financial success, nothing more. Now you jump to "transforming our social norms"? This betrays intention.

    From a philosophical viewpoint, the danger inherent in the new reality of mankind seems to be that this unity, based on the technical means of communication and violence, destroys all national traditions and buries the authentic origins of all human existence. This destructive process can even be considered a necessary prerequisite for ultimate understanding between men of all cultures, civilizations, races, and nations. Its result would be a shallowness that would transform man, as we have known him in five thousand years of recorded history, beyond recognition. It would be more than mere superficiality; it would be as though the whole dimension of depth, without which human thought, even on the mere level of technical invention, could not exist, would simply disappear. This leveling down would be much more radical than the leveling to the lowest common denominator; it would ultimately arrive at a denominator of which we have hardly any notion today.

    As long as one conceives of truth as separate and distinct from its expression, as something which by itself is uncommunicative and neither communicates itself to reason nor appeals to "existential" experience, it is almost impossible not to believe that this destructive process will inevitably be triggered off by the sheer automatism of technology which made the world one and, in a sense, united mankind. It looks as though the historical pasts of the-nations, in their utter diversity and disparity, in their confusing variety and bewildering strangeness for each other, are nothing but obstacles on the road to a horridly shallow unity. This, of course, is a delusion; if the dimension of depth out of which modern science and technology have developed ever were destroyed, the probability is that the new unity of mankind could not even technically survive. Everything then seems to depend upon the possibility of bringing the national pasts, in their original disparateness, into communication with each other as the only way to catch up with the global system of communication which covers the surface of the earth.

    --Hannah Arendt, "Men in Dark Times"

    The frightening coincidence of the modern population explosion with the discovery of technical devices that, through automation, will make large sections of the population 'superfluous' even in terms of labor, and that, through nuclear energy, make it possible to deal with this twofold threat by the use of instruments beside which Hitler's gassing installations look like an evil child's fumbling toys, should be enough to make us tremble.

    -- Hannah Arendt

    Now the police dreams that one look at the gigantic map on the office wall should suffice at any given moment to establish who is related to whom and in what degree of intimacy; and, theoretically, this dream is not unrealizable although its technical execution is bound to be somewhat difficult. If this map really did exist, not even memory would stand in the way of the totalitarian claim to domination; such a map might make it possible to obliterate people without any traces, as if they had never existed at all.

    -- Hannah Arendt

    We don't know a perfected totalitarian power structure, because it would require the control of the whole planet. But we know enough about the the still preliminary experiments of total

  14. Ads, PRISM by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    My spying with ads. More spying by governments.

    Games and software as always connected online services. Rented per year.
    A legal block of repair products/parts and services as counterfeiting.
    Military expecting the easy joy of using more drones until they can't control their own secure networks.
    More online nation state propaganda. More calls to ban user created cartoons, political jokes and bad movie reviews.
    A low quality of computer code as more below average and mediocre "educated" people get to be trusted to do advanced "computer" work.
    More and more random governments given the keys to all social media and OS crypto.
    A lot more intrusive ads, cameras and microphones selling users interaction with the OS, content.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  15. Re: TRUMP - Must Be Impeached by Type44Q · · Score: 1

    ...and get in Hillary

    You might have to remove a lizard, first.

  16. Re:IMPERSONATING ME AGAIN? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about you stop being an insufferable cunt that posts textual diarrhea like this all day every day and maybe people will leave you alone?
    You add NOTHING of value to any of the topics you post in, it's just whining and complaining and pointless drivel every single time.
    For fuck's sake go get some mental health counseling or something. Or just stay away from the Internet for a few months until you get your head straightened out.
    Either way just fucking knock this shit off. If you went on and on in a public place like this you'd be arrested and held for observation at a hospital.

  17. IMPERSONATING ME AGAIN? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    gweihir KNOWS u IMPERSONATE me https://it.slashdot.org/commen... c6gunner proves it https://linux.slashdot.org/com... he forgot to SUBMIT as AC & using his registered 'lusrname' instead (because he tried to mock me both BEFORE & after I FAIRLY challenged him to show he's done better work - he had ZERO).

    & NO WAY I'd "cry" like you "playing victim ne'er-do-wells" on /. (TROLL /.ers, not all) OR post on hosts offtopic.

    YOU HELPED ME https://science.slashdot.org/c... (& you quit trying to make me look bad trying to "tell lies" on hosts as "ME" IN YOUR IMPERSONATIONS of me e.g. https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... as regards Intel speculative execution attack? Hosts PREVENT 'EM)

    APK

    P.S.=> I KNOW the 2nd to last link above's KILLING YOU - YOU ACTUALLY HELPED ME getting me to see if hosts stop more than portsmash (& Meltdown + Spectre too) & "lo & behold" - hosts WORK on 'em - U LOSE... apk

  18. The 'next big thing in tech' should be the Earth by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 2

    How about we stop spending so much time and energy on toys that we don't necessarily need and allocate that energy and resources to fixing and maybe reversing the damage we've done to the environment of the Earth, being the only planet we can currently live on?
    Don't even say we should move to another planet. Ain't happening and you all damned well know it and there's nowhere to go in any case.

  19. Drive-by snipe hunting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...in autonomous vehicles is gonna be the next big thing.

  20. "This is the weapon of a jediknight"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Not as clumsy/random as a blaster - An elegant weapon 4 a more civilized age" https://it.slashdot.org/commen...

    * "For over a 1,000 generations Jedi Knights were guardians of peace & justice in the old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the EMPIRE"

    (NOT "wannabe weapons" of TROLL shitlords on /. like ZIP https://it.slashdot.org/commen... - theirs = effete downmods I RUN 'EM DRY OF & lies & WHY they LOSE).

    APK

    P.S.=> Many here know https://linux.slashdot.org/com... & enjoy greater speed/security/reliability & anonymity hosts yield natively speeding you up 2 ways (adblocks & hardcodes that protect vs. DNS security issues in redirect poisoning + request tracking logs & RESOLVE FASTER locally from RAM driven by KERNELMODE speed vs. slow usermode in "solutions" packed w/ security issues (DNS/Antivirus) OR not working fully by default (adblock) in usermode addons easily detected by webmasters & blocked doing less but using more)... apk

  21. America is masturbating ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... with self-serving nationalism and "America First," and anti-science, anti-immigration, anti-globalism, pro-capitalism, batshit crazy Whiteism, and a bullying immature president backed by scared shitless Republicans.

    All civilisations fail, eventually. the yanks want to go to hell, let's just make sure the goddam hand basket is Made in America.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    1. Re:America is masturbating ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think that all experiments run there course. 18th century liberalism is dead; constitutions, human rights, equality, all sound nice - but mean nothing. They are legal fictions, that serve a function. As the U.S.A. unfolds the absurdity of trying to hold onto a very specific, 200 year old, philosophy becomes apparent.

    2. Re:America is masturbating ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's the dirty little secret. The hand basket will be made in China, like Trump's fuckin' MAGA hats.

    3. Re:America is masturbating ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 0

      Good point.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    4. Re:America is masturbating ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the billionth time, since you marxists apparently can't read, it's anti-ILLEGAL immigration. Not just immigration in general. But don't let that stop your delusional Trump hatred.

    5. Re:America is masturbating ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 0

      You're wring.

      America is NOT trying to hold on to anything. That's the problem. Capitalism has killed us all by hoarding and hedging and getting all protectionist about its money.

      Review the monopoly breakups in the early 1900s, particularly 1911 Standard Oil.

      Then look at the tariff wars that the last domino in the run-up to the Great Depression.

      Go look at Germany after WWI and notice the logical trajectory to WWII.

      CaptainDork's 16th Corollary: "Those who don't learn from history are bound to repeat it; those of us who do can predict it."

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    6. Re:America is masturbating ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      EDIT: You're wing. No, wiring. Crap. "Wrong."

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    7. Re:America is masturbating ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      Fuck you in the ass with Trump's tiny dick.

      I haven't marxed anything since they took the fumes out of the magic marxers.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    8. Re:America is masturbating ... by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      God forbid we should look after ourselves. You know, like every single other nation on the planet does. Globalism is bullshit, unless you think invading Iraq was a great idea.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    9. Re:America is masturbating ... by drsquare · · Score: 2

      If Americans think globalism is bullshit, I'd like them to stop selling their software, films, music and junk food all over the world.

    10. Re:America is masturbating ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Globalism is NOT global trade. That ridiculous notion that serves the interests of globalists is only able to propagate in the minds of stupid, ignorant people. Let me make it clear you stupid ignorant dolt. There was world trade before there was written language. Chert types found in only small parts of the world are found as spear points traded literally around the globe during prehistoric times. Globalism is not global trade. Long before the word was coined, people were trading, it is just that there were regulations imposed by nations controlling that trade. The Romans got much wheat from Egypt but no globalism. There was a trading route from China to the Mediterranean but no globalism. The Brits sailed into China to force trade in something besides silver for tea and the East India Company subdued India and THAT WAS VERY CLOSE TO GLOBALISM.

      Globalism is just code for corporations able to trade free of government regulation. Don't misunderstand, corporations will gladly use the authority of nations to maintain basic order for now, but globalism sits like a cuckoo in the nest that is the mind of the useful idiot ignoramuses which is why we hear the ridiculous assertion that globalism is global trade. It is not, as global trade existed as the status quo on a vast scale long before globalism raised its ugly head. Good grief learn some history so you don't sound like a complete moron when you gratuitously bash the US.

      I'm not a Trump supporter BTW.

  22. And if it isn't possible technically by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Start a Kickstarter campaign

  23. Re:The 'next big thing in tech' should be the Eart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They probably know this, that's what the push to distract and control people is for.

  24. Re: TRUMP - Must Be Impeached by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump is removing himself...

  25. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  26. Re:EAT YER WORDS unidentifiable ac weezil... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    God, go fuck yourself, troll.

  27. Now, why would I do THAT when... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now, why would I do that if MY AUTOMATED WORK pounds you up the poop shute HARD https://news.slashdot.org/comm...

    * You PITIFUL inferior "weezils" make me RoTfLmAo EVERY DAY seeing you FAIL & FLAIL trying to beat my work & an Intel 4790k CPU, lol... no shit!

    (Thanks for the LAUGHS @ U at YOUR expense stooge)

    APK

    P.S.=> You know, those who post here for years KNOW this one: You're MAKING me just HAVE to say it again, lol (it's "tradition" vs. you WEEZILs):

    THIS? This was just "too, Too, TOO EASY - just '2ez'" (LOOK @ YOUR "Foaming-@-Teh-Mouth" raging "ReAcTioN" hahaha) & it always is (especially via "CyberianTiger" the past 2-3 months now)... apk

  28. Re:The 'next big thing in tech' should be the Eart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about we stop spending so much time and energy on toys ...

    Human civilization cannot progresses without the availability of NEW TOYS
     
    ... from toys that helped to hunt ... Arrows, Spears
     
    ... to toys that helped the domestication of crops and animals ... Ropes, Shovels, Hoe
     
    ... to toys that helped to make fabrics that clothe the human body ... Weaving Looms, Scissors
     
    ... to toys that helped ease the process of cooking and storing food ... Jars, Pots, Fire
     
    ... to toys that helped in transportation ... Wheels, Compass
     
    ... to toys that helped in trade ... Measuring Units, Money
     
    ... to toys that help the building of human towns and cities .. . Saws, Hammers, Nails
     
    ... to toys that help in communication ... Paper, Ink, TVs, Internet>
     
    ... and so on ...
     
    If you want to BAN TOYS you might as well BAN HUMAN CIVILIZATIONS !!

  29. Re:The 'next big thing in tech' should be the Eart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's a difference between a TOY and a TOOL you moron.

    We created useful tools to advance civilization in the past. Today, we have mass smartphone addiction killing people on our roadways, narcissism is now considered a viable career, and social media turns humans into creatures that consider vocal cords as some kind of outdated form of communication. They're anything but social.

    We create addiction using bullshit toys for the masses, and that shit isn't going to prove useful in the long run for humanity.

  30. Foldable computers, fight fire and smoke by myid · · Score: 1

    We need a computer that's small and light enough to carry easily, but can be stretched out, or unfolded, to a full-sized screen and keyboard. Then when you're done using it, you fold it back again to its small size, and put it back into your pocket.

    Also we need to work on fighting fires.

    1) Chemists and biologists should figure out a better way to put out a fire. Maybe an improved fire-fighting foam, powder, or gas. The foam or whatever shouldn't cost much, or be bad for the environment. And it should be light and not too bulky, so that it can be carried to a fire.

    2) Mechanical and electrical engineers should figure out a better way to deliver fire-fighting foam (or whatever) to the fire. Maybe use drones, or develop robots that can climb steep, rocky hills.

    3) Chemists should figure out a way to capture the smoke that a wildfire emits. California's Camp Fire put out smoke that covered a huge area. I wish there had been a way to put something (I don't know what) over the fire, which would have trapped or absorbed the smoke.

  31. Re: "This is the weapon of a jediknight"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ÐÐРнÐÑ...ÑfÐ ÐÐÐоÑ

  32. If you don't have your health... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I vote for immortality through nanotech. Have a really gritty milkshake every 50 years to rebuild your body. It's the perfect Obey Us, Please product for megacorps. Who cares about a "dead-end job" if you live forever? They could work it into the Amazon employee health care plan. Nerves of steel, and bones of iron!

  33. Pro-chinese propaganda piece. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    China is not beating the US at anything. Just because they work long hours doesn't mean a damn thing. They can't match the creativity or ingenuity of the American market place, and their entire country and economic system puts them at an inherent disadvantage by favoring government funded and government run companies over the free market. Not to mention that the people most likely to come up with unique revolutionary ideas and products tend to be relatively anti-authoritarian, and would almost certainly never make it anywhere in life in China.

  34. The Next Things Are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Full Biomedical DNA based engineering and repair of the live Human body coming online in the next 20 years, to include everything including halting Aging, yet excepting memory core upload and download which happens about 35 years from now, so protect ya neck.

    All it takes is for the old derelict ignorant retirees in Government Politics and Religion born before the Computer Age to get the fuck out of the way and literally die the hell off. These people are fucking stupid, and worthless. You DO NOT need them to get things done together as Free, Voluntary, Non Aggressive, and Cooperatiive Peoples of the Earth. Do it all your goddamned selves, together, as you wish.

    Before that will come full global adoption of Cryptocurrencies Decentralized Distributed P2P Privacy Coins.
    This is a complete and total no brainer. Government and Banks are such antique inefficient legacy and completely unnecessary structures. Their SOLE purpose is to steal from, program, spy, control you, and force and murder other people both locally and worldwide in your name and from your wallet. FUCK THAT.

    Search Youtube: Larken Rose Voting
    Read: Cypherpunk Manifesto

    These TWO utterly FUNDAMENTAL UPDATES to the way things are WILL BE the KEY to Freeing the Planet to evolve to the next levels of genuine Freedom, Cooperation, and Diversity required to Spawn Myriad New Technologies... Including Finally Getting Off This Fucking ROCK.

    NO Government, I REPEAT, NO GOVERNMENTs Will Ever pull that off.
    They're too busy stealing your money to maintain their own Kingship over you.
    Forget them, forget Government, move the fuck on.
    Evolve.

  35. Re:The 'next big thing in tech' should be the Eart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You don't *need* Government.
    How about instead of allocating your wallet to them,
    you allocate it DIRECTLY to the projects you truly DO need,
    the projects you're interested in, and the local charities
    that support the needs of people in your area.

    Government is a failure.
    Allocate your funds ONLY to companies that don't fuck up the environment.

    Youtube: Larken Rose Voting

    Adopt Cryptocurrencies Decentralized Distributed Encrypted P2P Privacy Coins.
    Route your money around the Government problem to those who need it most and those groups doing the most beneficial, least harmful things.

    $500B to $1T a year spend on murdering people around the world IN YOUR NAME and FROM YOUR WALLET for each of the last EIGHTEEN FUCKING YEARS, Global SPY SURVEILLANCE including ALL metadate about YOU at home on your own soil... and on and on and on.

    Talk about what you could have saved in your wallets to spend on your own health care locally, your own private schools, your own charities, your own awesome Next Things and Human Progress.

    Yeah, you fucking need Government all right... what a fucking waste.

  36. There is so much wrong with the article by Whuffo · · Score: 1

    First, the idea that those ancient civilizations don't have to replace infrastructure is stupid. And people keep ignoring the elephant in the room - greed. Greedy capitalists have driven costs so high that wages are high, too. Countries in Asia which have kept greed under control have a much lower cost of living and proportionally lower wages. This allows them to undercut your prices every time. Fix the cost of living imbalance and the trade problems will melt away.

    1. Re:There is so much wrong with the article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interesting notion. How do you fix the cost of living difference between New York City and rural Ohio? I would like to live in Santa Monica... so would many. Should I be able to live there and expect the pay the same for food, housing and medical care as I would in rural Montana? What about property values? Should the government make every house and apartment cost the same? Now lets look at Costa Rica or China versus the USA or UK. How do you even out the cost of living everywhere?

  37. Re:Are You Tiananmen Square Tank Man? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or just another chink slave??

    captcha: steals (just like chinks do)

  38. Re:You Sound Chinese by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just how tiny is your little cock anyways?

    STUPID CHINKY SNORTS RHINO HORN TO GROW HIS TINY COCK
    yes i was yelling at this stupid chink /.
    fuck you

  39. Re:You So Woke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I look forward to seeing you on the roadside begging for change when your parents cut off your money and meds.

    Poor sad little Amerikuk..

  40. One Word: Plastics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

  41. The Next Big Thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have more to live for than the next big thing in tech.

  42. Re:The 'next big thing in tech' should be the Eart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're so fucking stupid.
    You do not need a goddamned new smartphone every goddamned year. Learn to make do with LESS or doom our species to extinction along with the rest of the planet, you fucking moron!

  43. Re:The 'next big thing in tech' should be the Eart by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    Hear, hear!

  44. Re:The 'next big thing in tech' should be the Eart by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    Oh look everyone, the Anarchist is chiming in!
    You're likewise an idiot. Chaos isn't going to solve anything, it'll just make everything worse.
    You should have outgrown teenage rebelllion against authority a long time ago, GROW UP.