How smart does your toaster need to be?
It was my birthday last week and I didn't really 'want for' any tech presents. Reading Techcrunch these days is all about Space X, big companies buying up start ups and software companies fixing huge software bugs! Where are all my new Gizmos?
So what is exciting out there for the tech consumer that is new in 2018?
With another Christmas just come and gone, and now heading quickly towards the end of our 2nd decade of the 21st Century. There wasn’t much to get excited about in the tech world heading into Xmas shopping, and thing haven't changed for my birthday. It seems to me consumer technology has pretty much stalled. Is there cool new stuff?
Back to the birthday list, have you seen anything exciting in the TV section at the electronics store lately? Just bigger and flatter, and what can a smart TV do that 5 yr old Apple TV box doesn't? Seen any new wizz bang tablets or laptops? I did see a massive all in one PC with curved screen for $4000. I'll keep my three 24" $200 dollar flat screens I think! Game consoles are a good benchmark, alway lining up for the latest and greatest and fighting for the Xmas dollars. Unless I missed it, even the buzz around game consoles was pretty low this year. The most exciting thing I noticed was the rebirth of the internet fridge and the remote control home, and a new ice making machine. I'm not sure how much 'new' tech there is in there.
It seems with homes flooded with tech, most lounge rooms are already full of technology, and last decades gizmos are stacked in draws. The tech R&D money must be going somewhere. So where is all the new tech if its not at home?
Sensors, robotics, machine science and analytics are being used more and more to make producing other things better, quicker and cheaper. I just watched the video on the Alibaba warehouse in China where an army of robots bring the stacks of pallets and merchandise to the workers all connected by wi fi - very cool. Bluetooth and wifi are seamless now. Compared to the first generation bluetooth in early 2000's, it is now great to use and literally everywhere. Existing devices seem to be getting increases in amounts of tech installed, including a bluetooth and/or wifi link. We need to keep it real though. Who needs bluetooth on their cordless drill battery? When it's flat, it's flat, and you get another from the charger! The user experience is not so much what a device does now, but how it does it and what it connects to.
It is definitely interesting to see the changes in how devices work, and how they can become more interactive. This gives users access to high tech concepts, without having to be techies or a coders to make them work the way they want. This is a good part of consumer tech developments to watch for agriculture, especially as hardware manufacturers look to cost effective consumer based technology for ideas and ways to make the interaction with complex technology easier. So what can you expect for 2018, less new gadgets, increased connectivity and more interactive equipment. Watch your home technology, your TV and fridge, not to see a step change in the look, but to see how they work and where concepts may make it into the tractor cab and other on farm implements.