FUTUROLOGY - Here's What 2025 Will Look Like

Science fiction has a long habit of making successful predictions. Here's what technologists think is coming with a much faster Internet.

Even before "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away," we've used literature and the arts to predict the future, and with great success. "Star Trek" invented several types of technologies, including an iPad-like tablet called PADD (Personal Access Display Device). From the robot maid and robot vacuum of "The Jetsons" to the in-ear headphones and wall of televisions in "Fahrenheit 451," predictions have often come true.

Companies also make predictions to direct their efforts. Microsoft made two videos, one in 2008 and one in 2011, that show a world where electronic displays cover pretty much everything and businesspeople read newspapers on a thin paper-like display that folds.

For technology companies, predictions drive design and development. Google's Ray Kurzweil has long been in the game of making predictions and, so far, is often right. 

In the Pew Research Center's recent report "Killer Apps in the Gigabit Age," the nonpartisan fact tank continues its own tradition of predicting the future – one that began in 2005 with predictions for the year 2014. The report is part of its series on "The Web at 25" and explores what applications could be developed with a gigabit connection.  Read More 

Here's What 2025 Will Look Like

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