Looking Back From 2057

IntroductionWell, its been an exciting century forNHS (National Health Service) where treatment
me starting with the launch of the Russianwas free at the point of need but paid for by
satellite, Sputnik in 1957 and ending with the firsteveryone. When this was first introduced many
space elevator on my 100th birthday in 2057. Itspeople tried to live for free but soon got bored of
also been a sad and depressing time too withdrinking water, eating the same boring food and
various wars and conflicts but it all worked outbeing unable to go anywhere or do anything
for us all in the end.The really frustrating thing isinteresting. Another side effect was another huge
we could have done much of this years ago andlayer of bureaucracy was removed.Another
saved our selves so much grief, but we didn'tchange was tax. In the old days huge numbers of
partly because we didn't know how but mostly"tax inspectors" were needed to collect a tax
because of greed, self-interest and an astonishingfrom everyone. These days its automatic, you
lack of vision.We have lost many things but gainedget paid, your credit is updated and the state
so much more in return. Gone are many of thegets a small percentage.A major change was the
huge corporations, out-manoeuvred by manyaccountability of corporations. The laws of the
smaller, more nimble companies as predicted bytime assigned the same rights to a corporation as
"The Cluetrain Manifesto" and "Dingoes andto an individual. The problem was that the
Lions".EntertainmentLike many industries, thecharacter of many corporations could be
music industry had to die before it could bedescribed as greedy, paranoid and psychopathic. It
re-born. Lets face it, any organisation that sees itswas the early Internet that made exposing these
own customers as potential criminals is definitelymuch easier and faster. After a few high profile
on the way out. In those days, music and movies"melt downs", many of the more "psychopathic"
were distributed on plastic discs (called CDs orcorporations where given the same treatment as
DVDs) and billions were spent on preventingan individual would have got.The way companies
people from doing what they did naturally -are run has changed a lot too. In the bad old
sharing.Various methods were tried to preventdays, companies would grow and grow until they
this, DRM (Digital Rights Management) was theimploded under their own weight. These days
most obnoxious partly because it preventedthings are more dynamic, some companies form
people from making copies (to use in their otherto produce a one-off product and dissolve soon
players) but mostly because it "locked out"after. Many behave like 'cells', when they reach a
competitors.The result was that :-1. Most peoplecertain size, they divide into separate entities. This
ended up with unplayable disks due tokept them very lean and competitive, and most
incompatible DRM systems or companies goingimportantly - fun.Things are much simpler these
out of business.2. The "pirates" removed anydays too. Walk into shop. Look in special mirror
copy prevention and made the music tracksand see your self in a selection of clothes as if
available on the original Internet.3. People found ityou were wearing them. Real-time 3D digitising
much easier to download from the "pirates" thanand overlays. No need to be measured, the 3D
to buy a "legal" disk and run the risk that it woulddigitiser captured all your measurements and feed
be unplayable.4. The music industry got morethem to the machine that would make your
desperate and aggressive until they were suedclothes.Law and OrderCrime, though still present,
out of existence by their top performers, whohas been much reduced. It all started in 2009
had grown tired of the negative publicity and hadwhen a woman was burgled but found the burglar
found a much better way to distributed andby searching through real-time satellite images of
promote their music - the Internet.There was aher house via an Internet sat-map service. It was
brief flirtation with high capacity disks like "Bluesimple to find an image of her house at the time
Ray" and "HD DVD" but the public got so tired ofthe burglar entered and follow him back to his flat
paying vast sums on new, incompatible formatshalf a mile away. She presented the images to
that they either stuck with the original DVD (Dualthe local police force who "nicked" him.Another
Layer 7.5GB) format or just downloadedform of crime called "shoplifting" also disappeared
everything from the Internet.These days not onlywhen tiny tracking devices called "RFID" were built
is it legal, its encouraged. You can copy any pieceinto every sellable item. To purchase all you had
of music, video or literature to anyone or anyto do was pick up the item at a shop and walk
device. As soon as you have listened or viewedout. As soon as you walked through the shop
75% of it, the author gets a one-offdoor, your credit card was automatically debited
micro-payment automatically.In fact many artistsby the cost of the item. Anyone daft enough to
gave much of their work away for free knowingdo this with an "empty" credit card was tracked
that if it was good enough it would be copiedby the RFID in the item and dealt with.Biometrics
millions of times and they would becomealso played a part as many things (like cars,
household names very quickly. Another advantagecomputers) would not work with any unauthorised
of giving your work away was that you couldperson so stealing them was pointless unless you
attach contact and gig details to each track socould get round the biometric security system
every time you had a concert/gig/etc all yourwhich was expensive.Micro MRI scanners make
fans were informed automatically.The moviepolice work so easy now. Round up the suspects
industry was also on the endangered list but sawfor questioning and the scanner will soon know
what was coming just in time. Even so, its still awho is lying or not based on their brain
fraction of its original size. Gone are the greatpatterns.SpaceWith an ever expanding population
actors and actresses (replaced with virtualcomplicated by people living longer the only way
actors), gone are the studios (replaced with virtualwas up. It started with things like the International
studios) and gone are fixed 'story lines'. In thoseSpace Station but when space travel got cheaper
days a "movie" was just a fixed sequence ofhuge multi-purpose space platforms were
images played one after the other very fast, youconstructed. These originally housed engineers and
couldn't alter the story line, change the charactersscientists but soon grew when more modules
or view each scene from different viewpoints likewere added like space telescopes, factories,
you can now. The main driver for all of this washospitals and even hotels.These days, space travel
the game industry, they had been doing this kindis routine. Many people go into space to visit
of thing for years.The way we watched thingsfriends living on the space platforms or take
radically altered when huge, flexible video displaystours. I went up a couple of years back to watch
became cheap enough to be used as wallpaper.a space probe being assembled and launched to
These were bright enough to replace lights too.study some primitive life on Jupiter's moon,
Many people used one wall to watch programsEuropa. I saw two people recover an old
and the others to display virtual, swimming fish ascommunications satellite. No one uses those any
a form of relaxation (Bit like the earlymore - the space platforms do that job too. I
screen-savers).CommunicationThe original Internetalso had a quick look at the telescope control
was classed as "disruptive technology" because itroom and spent the night in the hotel. Its a weird
enabled the human race to communicate acrossexperience when you move from the outer ring
the world in so many different ways much to thewere most of the people live and work (normal
annoyance of the media who preferred to keepgravity), past the middle ring where the hospice /
information artificially scarce and expensive.Thingshospital / research areas, to the hub were most
really got interesting when Internet3 came on-line.of the equipment is (no gravity).Some people
This new network was a mix of the olderchoose to spend their last days (and cash) in
Internet2 and NASA's revamped deep spacespace, the cash helped fund space development
network. Not only could you communicate withalong with some medical research. A lot of
anyone or thing on planet Earth, you could reachdisabled people also worked in space too, no need
people on the many orbiting space platforms, thefor functional legs (or a wheel chair) when you
Moon bases, the Mars base and any other planetworked in zero G.The long awaited "Space
in our solar system.EnergyFor quite a long time,Elevator" is nearly operational now. It took years
electricity was generated solely by "Powerto find a material that could be stretched 62,000
Stations" from either Oil, Gas, Coal, Nuclear Fissionmiles and withstand continuous lightning strikes.
(later by Nuclear Fusion), Solar and Wind/WaveThere are hundreds of companies bidding to build
turbines. As you can imagine, these were huge,the huge platforms that will be anchored at
dirty, expensive and inefficient.The power wasstrategic locations along its length. At the end
distributed along cables strung between hugethey fixed an asteroid. I heard they were going
metal towers called "pylons" to all parts of theto put a centrifugal launch platform there
country. It was transmitted at a very hightoo.WeatherFor the very first time, the human
voltage but stepped down to around 100 ~ 240race had some useful control over the weather.
volts AC. Most buildings had some kind of "mains"The space platforms had a continuous read-out of
supply connected to several power outlets (orthe global weather condition. This data was feed
sockets) that you could connect variousto super computers which in turn controlled huge
appliances to.The main problem with this systemspace mirrors. If the gulf stream started to slow,
was that power-cuts were frequent and whenjust reflect some of the Sun's energy to that
they happened, entire cities were plunged intopoint to help the evaporation process. If there
darkness. Another problem was that AC power iswas a hurricane brewing near the American coast,
very hard to store in any useful quantity makingthe computers would angle the mirrors to gently
unexpected surges expensive to deal with.Theseheat the surrounding areas and disrupt the
days, all buildings are energy self-sufficient andhurricane creation process. By subtly heating and
come complete with solar tiles, mini-windcooling certain strategic locations, rain could be
generators and storage batteries. Most electronicencouraged in fall in useful places. Huge areas of
equipment runs directly from the batteries whichdesert were made habitat able by this
are in turn charged from the sun, wind, fuel-cellsmethod.Reference and Inspiration"The Cluetrain
or any other available powerManifesto: The End of Business as Usual" by
source.CommerceThese days, the basic essentialsLocke, Weinberger, Searls & Levine"Dingoes and
of life are free like water, certain foods andLions" by David Chan.
shelter. This was just a another extension UK's