Living in the Future

30 years ago, Star Trek was showing tablets, laser guns, space ships and intergalactic travel. In less than 50 years we’ve gone from 4KB hard drives to 4TB hard drives—that’s one trillion times larger. We’ve also advanced from text-based data entry on computers the size of a room to multi-touch input on devices that fit in the palm of our hand, and can playback 1080p video without trouble.

As we become more advanced as a society, and technology continues to transform, I can’t help but notice the variety in every market slowly dwindling. For example, smart phones are no longer original in any way, and everything seems like a copy of a copy. All tablets aspire to be iPads, and all 13-in laptops to be MacBook Pro. Apple has dominated the markets, and it holds such great power to sway them one way or another.

A lot of responsibility comes with this power, and it has yet to be seen exactly what Apple’s plan is. Of course, it does seem fairly obvious that Apple would like to create a user experience no longer backed by a point-and-click desktop environment, but rather by the one-application-at-a-time method that the iOS devices employ.

This brings some worrying arguments to mind. In some ways I respect Apple’s goal of simplicity, style, and good design. However, I feel that at the moment, and ever more frequently, Apple is drifting to the “You get what you get because we made it that way” mentality. Are we losing our control? Do people still care about customization and freedom as much as they used to?

What are your thoughts? If Apple only offered one machine, as an everything-you-need device, would you buy it? Or do you prefer many separate devices, like Apple offers now, so that you have something specific for different purposes?

These questions and more come to mind. I’d like to hear your thoughts. Please comment below, and I will try to respond to any questions you might have!