What would replace computers in the future?

[Strat]

In your personal opinion, what would eventually replace computers, comperterized technology and information technology in general?

[Nick]

Cheaper computers.

[RAPTORFEET]

You need to define your terms. What do you mean by 'computer'...'information technology' ?

Are you really asking how these will 'change' in future rather than replaced?

[Strat]

You need to define your terms. What do you mean by 'computer'...'information technology' ?

Are you really asking how these will 'change' in future rather than replaced?

I meant what potential breakthrough could possibly replace (in full) ALL computerized technology in general. Information technology includes anything related to computers and information systems.

[RAPTORFEET]

You need to define your terms. What do you mean by 'computer'...'information technology' ?

Are you really asking how these will 'change' in future rather than replaced?

I meant what potential breakthrough could possibly replace (in full) ALL computerized technology in general. Information technology includes anything related to computers and information systems.

Then no. Computers may involve quantum mechanics....organic processors,....nano technology, etc. but these, like the human brain are all computers processing information. Humans are physical beings relating to the physical world so there will be room for various levels of technology. A hundred years from now a shop keeper in Iraq may still use an abacus to tally sales using a base 10 number system.

Re your handle 'Strat'. I bought my first Fender Strat in 1972...still haver it...in fact I also still have my first accoustic guitar from 1969. They both have their use but are basically both used via the same music theory and producing sound waves to make music. Similarly, computers whether the earliest or the latest are variations of the same theme.

[Schmungles]

On a certain level Nick is right. They'll be replaced by cheaper computers, or alternatively by more powerful computers, or even both (probably both).

At some point in the medium term we'll move away from silicon-based chips and transition to something else, since we're closely approaching, or have already reached, some of the physical limitations of the materials used in most of today's computers.

However, from the point of view of the end-user I think that the definition of what constitutes a computer will radically change. In the future a "computer" will merely be a device that acts as a personal access terminal to a fully integrated network ("the cloud"). The way I think of this is that the future will be like Star Trek: The Next Generation, where there are zillions of access points that allow a user to access his or her files and applications over an incredibly large and fast network. The terminals have relatively little local storage, since all permanent storage is handled by large central computers. This setup will allow you to access all of your stuff anywhere you can access the network, and since you'll be able to access the network everywhere all you would ever really need would be a device about the size of an iphone. If you really needed to have a bunch of computing power you'd take something the size of a netbook. Your home would have something akin to a TV, except that it would be an access terminal and entertainment center in one super-thin screen.

[Nick]

I don't think that we will ever rely on cloud computing alone. People and organisations will still have their own storage devices for private data. Unless the small hand-held devices change radically I imagine that our main computing will probably also be done using objects similar to current computers since the keyboard remains the best way of interfacing with computers. I personally could not do my work or leisure computing happily on such a small device. The inner workings are likely to change a fair amount but I imagine that the changes will likely be hidden.

One change that seems likely to me would be that computers are likely to find themselves in more devices.

[DrCloud]

The term "computer" is sufficiently generic that I thing others here are correct: they're always going to be around in some form or other. As implied, the abacus is a computer and they've been in use for 4500 years or so.

One change that hasn't been mentioned is the human-machine interface. I was going to suggest, in jest, that people in the future will have HDMI plugs in their heads, but a more direct (than KMV) connection seems more likely to use something like SQUID technology and, maybe, those projection glasses that are available now. HPH

[rko619]

One change that hasn't been mentioned is the human-machine interface. I was going to suggest, in jest, that people in the future will have HDMI plugs in their heads, but a more direct (than KMV) connection seems more likely to use something like SQUID technology and, maybe, those projection glasses that are available now. HPH

Maybe we could have some sort of fibre optic plug and a fibre optic receiver (to be implanted in the rear and upper neck). The data packs would travel up one side of the plug and be interpreted and sent to the brain through the spinal cord via the receiver.

It would work in the opposite way to send information or load a program ect. (eg. Request MS word, data sent down wire, request received and the data packs for that are sent to the brain).

As for how we would see these is obviously my complex, my idea was that maybe these packs could influence the brain into making the neurons do as the data is saying and then make the eyes see it as it would be on a screen.

[Schmungles]

I doubt that we will eventually have that kind of integration barring some pretty radical cultural and political transformations. First, let's all remember that culturally we view cyborgs as "bad." All of the examples of cyborgs from science fiction that I can think of, like the Borg, are either obviously characterized as bad or at the very least carry strong negative connotations. If as a society we have strong negative views about cyborgs and strong artificial intelligence more generally, then I doubt that we would be accepting of the idea to "upgrade" humans with lots of electronic implants.

The second problem I see with such an idea is obsolescence. Who would pay for upgraded implants? If the government paid for them then I can see a situation where people wouldn't be getting the most advanced upgrade they could afford and thus there would be a large gap between the technological enhancements people have versus the enhancements they could have. A significantly large enough gap, or the potential for one, would cause people to seriously question the viability of such a program in the first place. Would people with obsolete implants be at a significant disadvantage in society, i.e, would they be unable to get higher paying jobs; would they be denied certain rights or legal protections? If upgrades were privately funded, would the government be forced to enact a massive entitlement program to allow poorer people to have money to pay for upgrades?

I can see a society where people work with highly advanced robots and computers more easily than a society of cyborgs, simply because the former is an evolution of what we're already doing, whereas the latter requires some radical changes to our cultural and social paradigms.

[DrCloud]

To say it another way: implants are just too creepy to gain widespread acceptance.

Years (decades!) ago, one of Robert Heinlein's early stories included a computer that people talked to, just about anywhere. As I recall, individuals could tailor the system voice and vocabulary to their own taste.

We're getting toward that now, with that Microsoft system that Ford is putting in its cars and with voice recognition software. I think I'd put my money on further developments in that direction, at least for the immediate future. HPH

[kidjan]

In your personal opinion, what would eventually replace computers, comperterized technology and information technology in general?

Well, I think a good place to start would be the history of computing. There's nothing particularly revolutionary about the architecture of today's computers; only the size of the units doing computation and the speed at which they perform.

My favorite entry from the timeline is in the 1600s:

Wilhelm Schickard of Tübingen, Württemberg (now in Germany), built the first discrete automatic calculator, and thus essentially began the computer era. His device was called the "Calculating Clock". It was capable of adding and subtracting up to 6 digit numbers, and warned of an overflow by ringing a bell. Operations were carried out by wheels, and a complete revolution of the units wheel incremented the tens wheel, a concept widely used later, as for instance in odometers and in counters on cassette decks. Schickard had been a friend of astronomer Johannes Kepler since they met in the winter of 1617. Kepler is said to have used Schickard's machine for his astronomical studies. The machine and plans were lost and forgotten in the war that was going on, then rediscovered in 1935, only to be lost in another war, and then finally rediscovered in 1956 by the same man (Franz Hammer)! The machine was reconstructed in 1960, and found workable.

Or this one from 1890:

The 1880 US census had taken 7 years to complete since all processing had been done by hand from journal sheets. The increasing population suggested that by the 1890 census, data processing would take longer than the 10 years before the next census —so a competition was held to find a better method. It was won by a Census Department employee, Herman Hollerith, who went on to found the Tabulating Machine Company, later to become IBM. He invented the recording of data on a medium that could then be read by a machine. Prior uses of machine readable media had been for control (Automatons, Piano rolls, looms, ...), not data. "After some initial trials with paper tape, he settled on punched cards..."[25] His machines used mechanical relays (and solenoids) to increment mechanical counters. This method was used in the 1890 census and the completed results (62,622,250 people) were ... finished months ahead of schedule and far under budget.[26] The inspiration for this invention was Hollerith's observation of railroad conductors during a trip in the western US; they encoded a crude description of the passenger (tall, bald, male) in the way they punched the ticket.

From a fundamental standpoint, I don't see a big difference between ringing a bell and signaling some register in the event of arithmetic overflow. I don't see a big difference between encoding data on punch cards and encoding data on a platter rotating at 15k RPM. They're both just technologies, but the underlying principles are surprisingly similar.

So, I think Nick is right: the trend is towards cheaper/faster/smaller technologies, but the underlying principles themselves really aren't changing much: the idea is to crunch a lot of data quickly and efficiently. If your question is what will replace current computing technology, well...maybe quantum computers?

[Acapella]

nothing

[aajkal987]

Computers may involve quantum mechanics....organic processors,....nano technology, etc. but these, like the human brain are all computers processing information. Humans are physical beings relating to the physical world so there will be room for various levels of technology. A hundred years from now a shop keeper in Iraq may still use an abacus to tally sales using a base 10 number system.

[Natural ChemE]

In your personal opinion, what would eventually replace computers, comperterized technology and information technology in general?

A computer is something that calculates and handles information for us. Our brains are computers themselves.

Computers such as our laptops and desktops are only likely to be replaced by yet more powerful and efficient computing technologies.

It strikes me as insane to think that the demand for computing technology would disappear in any event short of human extinction.

[angelina]

In your personal opinion, what would eventually replace computers, comperterized technology and information technology in general?

A computer is something that calculates and handles information for us. Our brains are computers themselves.

Computers such as our laptops and desktops are only likely to be replaced by yet more powerful and efficient computing technologies.

It strikes me as insane to think that the demand for computing technology would disappear in any event short of human extinction.

Yes..I too agree with your Opinion..Our brains are computers themselves.In future Tablets will replace Computers,it is also mobile computer larger than a mobile phone..It has all features same as Personal computer and Laptop.In the foreign Country at present all are using this Tablets Only.