Change the world, eh?

According to Business 2.0 article, the following six technologies are going to change the world:

1. Printing new organs using Ink-Jet printers: The quote regarding this one is actually the scariest part..."It's a huge step toward the eternity of mankind". As much as I'd like to see replacement rejection-proof organs, this one looks to be 25 years in the distance to me.

2. Machines that interact with people the way people do: Mimicing human facial gestures is one thing, but reproducing human emotional context is an entirely different problem to be solved. The first problem to solve is software that can determine the emotional state of a human based on facial gestures.

3. The supersonic business jet: Now this is something that I can readily appreciate. Just going from the Bay Area to Chicago is an 8-hour ordeal (if you include airport overhead and timezone changes). Anything to improve that situation is welcome.

4. All day portable power: To the victor in this race will go the spoils. The first company to market with an easily refillable, long lasting (at least 5X an equivalent metal-acid battery) portable fuel cell power source will win big. Very big.

5. Computer display screens as thin and flexible as a piece of paper: Display screens that are thin and light weight- good. Display screens plastered on every possible surface in my environment a la Minority Report- bad.

6. Networks of cheap, aspirin-size sensor robots everywhere: Luckily, there is no mention of a right to privacy in the US Constitution, and the "unlawful search and siezure" stuff doesn't make surveillance illegal, just inadmissable in a court. Ugh.

Here is what they missed:

1. The combination of totally ubiquitous high speed wireless networking, very long lasting fuel cell power, collapsable/foldable 17-inch OLED display screen, audio-in, audio-out, and collapsable/foldable high-speed input device. It will be called "Device of the Gods". I will buy one.

2. Nuclear fusion as a power supply. It would completely change the economic and political world dynamics. It is also likely to be the only shot we have at making zero-emission transportation systems cost effective to deploy and operate on a large scale. Hydrolyzing water to keep your portable fuel cells well fed won't be cheap, after all.