Futurists Forecast How Technology Will Change our Lives

BETHESDA, MD: Early in the twentieth century, the product cycle of invention to market maturity was 40 years, according to futurist Marvin Cetron. By World War II, the cycle had shrunk to 30 years. Today, says Cetron, it is about six months for most consumer products. In computers and cutting-edge electronics, it is more like six weeks. "A really hot product is likely to be reverse-engineered, manufactured in China, and available on eBay in two weeks or less," he says.
Can the pace of technological acceleration hold out? If so, what major breakthroughs might appear in the next 10, 20, or 30 years?

In the March-April 2009 issue of THE FUTURIST magazine, Cetron and fellow futurist William Halal examine rapid change from two unique points of view in two separate articles titled "Timeline for the Future" and "Emerging Technologies and the Global Crisis of Maturity."

The articles contain dozens of forecasts:
* The world's first Net war could be fought between cybercommunities by 2011.
* A global sensor grid may appear by 2018.
* In 2020, sports-goers could be seeing the opening of the first Bionic Olympics.
* By 2025, only 15% of deaths worldwide will be due to infectious diseases, and human lives will be extended at a rate of one year per year.
* Nuclear fusion as a major energy source could be a reality by 2038.

"The latest forecasts from the TechCast Project are presented here to show that modern societies can realistically envision renewable energy replacing oil, medical control over the genetic process of life, computer power becoming cheap and infinite, mobile communications at lightning speeds, robots serving as helpers and caregivers, and much more to come…. This article presents an authoritative forecast of technology breakthroughs, showing that relentless advances are driving a creative transformation of business, society, the global order, and even what it means to be human."

All the articles in the March-April issue of THE FUTURIST can be obtained from the World Future Society Web site, www.wfs.org. Individuals can also pick up the March-April issue of THE FUTURIST for $5.95 at select bookstores and newsstands, or by writing to the World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 450, Bethesda, MD 20814. Order online at www.wfs.org.

THE FUTURIST is a bimonthly magazine focused on innovation, creative thinking, and emerging social, economic, environmental, and technological trends.

Among the thinkers and experts who have contributed to THE FUTURIST are Gene Roddenberry, Al Gore, Newt Gingrich, Richard Lamm, Alvin and Heidi Toffler, Buckminster Fuller, Frederik Pohl, Isaac Asimov, Vaclav Havel, Hazel Henderson, Margaret Mead, Robert McNamara, Betty Friedan, Nicholas Negroponte, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Lester R. Brown, Arthur C. Clarke, Douglas Rushkoff, Joel Garreau, William J. Mitchell, and U.S. Comptroller David M. Walker.

Editors: To request a review copy of THE FUTURIST magazine, contact director of communications Patrick Tucker, 301-656-8274 (ext. 116), or ptucker@wfs.org. More information about the World Future Society may be obtained from the Society's Web site, www.wfs.org.