Next Big Thing

[Bazile]

There is no doubt that mobile phones have been one of the greatest things to have been invented, which has had such an impact on billions of people worldwide

What do you think is going to be the next thing to have such an impact ?

[Buenchico]

Wow! An open-ended question that doesn't come from Banker_Frank! That makes a nice change!

If ABers can work out what 'the next big thing' in technology will be, then (assuming that we've got the necessary entrepreneurial spirit and access to some financial backing), we'll all be billionaires very soon ;-)

Most of the 'experts' in the field though seem to think that any big advances are likely to be software-based, rather than physical inventions like smartphones. e.g. see here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/12/26/2019-tech-forecast-11-experts-predict-the-next-wave-of-breakout-technologies/#2282c39159a9

I suspect that rapid developments in Artificial Intelligence will soon see us laughing at the simplicity of devices like Alexa, with far more devices available which humans can interact with using their voices (and which are capable of far more things than, say, Alexa can do).

[Zacs-Master]

Disagree. Graph End is the next big thing. Foldable phones / tablets / solar cells / medical equipment & procedures.

[Zacs-Master]

Graphene

[jno]

hose-down furniture

https://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/11/hose-cleaning.jpg

[Maydup]

Eventually a world wide shift away from plastic will have a huge impact.

[Buenchico]

A link to support Z-M's post:
https://www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk/learn/applications/

Z-M's response and my own don't have to be mutually exclusive. There might well be some software tasks which aren't currently practicable for 'real world' applications, due to there being no electronic components which can handle vast quantities of data at very high speeds. The use of graphene might remove such an obstacle, enabling further software development.

I don't think that I'll be first in the queue to buy a bendable phone though!
;-)

[Old_Geezer]

I am the next big thing !

[albaqwerty]

I think a lot of youngsters would love a bendy phone, if the number of times I've heard their comments after they've sat on them :-)

Roll-up tv's seem to exist already.

Holograms, possibly, although conference calling and vid chat are already in existence, could a hologram appearing in a board meeting improve business?

[spathiphyllum]

I think the next big thing will be a scientific, medical or astronautics related.

[douglas9401]

The next big thing will be two steps away from highly profitable obsolescence.

People are gullible sheep for the most part, running to keep up with the Joneses.

[Tilly2]

World Peace would be good. Not technological, I know, but it would still be good.

[Buenchico]

Oh, be reasonable, Tilly2.

If we didn't have wars, how would Americans ever learn about geography?

;-)

[spathiphyllum]

I think the film Wall-E sums this ideology

[david small]

Memory sticks for complete TV series. They hold way more than dvds that you have to change with trilogies etc.

[bednobs]

It's going to be in rechargeable batteries

[Zacs-Master]

Ok, Chris. Software advances run on graphene devices ;-)

[andres]

A miracle cure for Ebola. The disease that people seem to have forgotten about but is spreading in Africa at an alarming rate. We should all be worried .

[woofgang]

what I would like to be the next big thing would be some kind of I don't know what that would trigger the body to repair itself when attacked by disease.

[237SJ]

Gene therapy and AI

[Ryzen]

The cordless extension lead.