Assessing the Future of Software

Software will become our life.

The future will be a combination of technology, choice, convenience, and personal data. As we speak thousands of companies are working diligently on new technology that is driven specifically on personal choice, personal data such as historical buying patterns, and inter-changeable formats between hardware/appliances.

Just think about MP3 players and the revolution taking place right now. It started with floppy discs, cd's, tapes, etc. The ability to take information and easily transfer it to different mediums will become the future of how we operate on an individual basis.

We used to have to buy a tape, cd, or disc. We are moving toward digital transfer of information. Soon this will include all of our appliances such as television, microwaves, car stereos, digital identification, banking, etc. Our "Profiles" will be a comprehensive mix of software and personal choice that speaks openly to all formats across the board. Our "Profile" will include health, finance, personal choice, travel, identification, political, religious, and other aspects of our daily choices.

Software of the future will be our invisible guide that speaks for us and provides an unconscious ability to accomplish amazingly effective choices.

It might sound scary but our major role as a society is as consumers. It will be a consumer driven format and it be so closely integrated with our daily life that we will almost be unaware of it's role. Convenience is our future and software will be our best friend.

More important than our medical history will be our purchasing history and preferences. Companies will build intimate relationships with each person based on their needs. The past was built on customer service tailored to what the group needed with limited information. The future of customer service will be tailored to very specific information about our wants, needs, and desires. It will be a life-long relationship with strangers that know more about ourselves than we do.

Imagine our purchasing habits beginning at a young age. Will we actually decide what we like? If the companies of the future keep intimate tabs on our basic purchases might they be inclined to tailor their marketing around a slightly veiled personal campaign closely in line with what we like but driving their own agendas toward moving product? The future will be a strange landscape of entertainment, news, education, and consumerism all mixed into one package.

With artificial intelligence going at a break neck pace the future might hold personal digital friends that guide us to buy things they know we would like. These friends of course would be looking out for our best interests for they would know us best and understand our history.

I am sometimes afraid for our future.