State of Technology

The .com world seems to have lost its excitement. Nothing going on but the Internet. And it has lost its sizzle. And is a pain to use.

Computers are just commodities. Sold at Wal-Mart . They can still be confusing to buy, but the basic features needed to run the Internet at its maximum have been the same for several years.

So, what’s the next big killer app? A transforming technology?

Of course, I don’t know, but I am going to make a nomination.

Unbelievably realistic, practically 3-D, video.

IBM has just developed a chip called Cell. It uses a new chip architecture which makes it many times faster than what went before.

It was actually developed in Austin at the cost of $400 million. It is totally specialized for graphics and won’t be used in personal computers.

It will power the Sony Playstation 3. And once programmers unleash its potential it will create images of a quality and realism not seen before.

It will also soon be used in home entertainment centers.

Combined with HD TV and other technologies, we will eventually create a reality so powerful that it will be indistinguishable from “reality.”

Eventually maybe even something like the Holodeck of Star Trek.

You can see the beginning of this with the Xbox and Playstation 3 which can absorb their players in an alternate reality for hours.

I guess the question may even become “What is Reality”?

But that’s another blog.