Predicting the Digital Future

So what can we expect for our digital future? While we can't know all the details, we can count on more interoperability going forward. 

Cloud-based computing can be expected to grow, wherein computing will increasingly be delivered as a service rather than a product. This is essentially an "in progress" paradigm shift in computing. As cloud-computing continues to grow, computer memory or a user's particular device will become less important for storing data or running programs, and small companies will be able to realize digital opportunities that were previously out of reach. While cloud computing is an advantage in many ways, as data is shared and accessed via a greater number of devices, security challenges may increase, and privacy will be under greater threat.

Going forward, the electrical grid, which is similar to cloud computing in its delivery, is expected to advance to a "smart grid," allowing for more efficient energy allocation and more environmentally friendly use of energy resources. If the smart grid materializes, high levels of data interconnection with regard to energy consumption and demand are expected to give way to energy efficiencies through system communication and automatic adjustments. Palfrey and Gasser (2011) liken the smart grid to an "energy Internet" that integrates "technologies and functions into one network of networks" (p. 242).

An Internet of Things (IoT) is also expected to emerge, in which physical items--appliances, razors, buildings--can be turned into "smart" (computerized) objects that are connected to the Internet for the purpose of data collection, analysis, and application. Again, privacy and security are concerns with the emergence of IoT.

Information overload may be expected to continue to increase, necessitating continued development of search tools and facilitating growth of social technologies. As information grows, it will be used in new ways, and the need for data processing and databases (big data challenges) will expand. Media multi-tasking will be increasingly normative, and technology will become ever more personalized. Different media will continue to converge into digital forms, allowing media texts to be distributed across a variety of devices.

On a related note, transmedia presentation of narratives will expand stories into new and more complex forms. Through transmedia storytelling, audiences will experience congruent entertainment experiences that span a variety of media, with each extension contributing something unique to the understanding of a story. The result will be the creation of dynamic, new, synergistic narrative collections.

In general, these predictions will lead to new user experiences, in which people interact with media and the world in ways unknown to our ancestors. In the digital world, we can expect change to be the only constant.

Palfrey, J., & Gasser, U. (2012). Interop: The promise and perils of highly interconnected systems. New York: Basic Books.