The Next Big Thing

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/others/news/apple-under-pressure-to-deliver-the-next-big-thing-436122

Any speculations on what the NBT could be?

* - 3D glasses
* - Augmented reality
* - Retina-scan security
* - Wearable computing the size of a watch
* - Motion activated battery charging
* - ???

* - Three-year guarantee  

Somebody tell the CHP.

Did you catch this little bit, "...also cited for speeding"?

I am in agreement with the CHP on this one. If you want to play internet, then stay the fuck at home or let someone else drive.

_Howard wrote:

If you want to play internet, then stay the fuck at home or let someone else drive.

But... But...

Someday AR (augmented reality) will be commonplace for drivers, with either a "heads-up" display on the windscreen (like they do in jets) or in the driver's glasses (like this driver was using) which gives all sorts of useful information overlaying the view the driver sees out the window -- speed, directions to destination, warnings of nearby traffic, names of businesses as you pass them, facial recognition of people on the street, estimates of when the light will turn red, notification when a cop's radar lights you up...

None too soon either for Cecliia.

Most drivers seem barely capable of noticing the cars in their vicinity. I would rather they not be scanning the yellow pages and playing Angry Birds while I am anywhere near them.

To really know how inattentive drivers are, you need to spend a few years riding a motorcycle as your primary mode of transport. It's almost like being invisible.

Drive by wire.

Along with single payer, it's the only thing that makes sense.

Drive by wire may be lots of fun at an amusement park, but it has no place on public roads. Of course, when you get a ticket for speeding or following too close, you could always blame it on a bug in the car's program.

Won't matter anyway. In another 20-40 years the personal automobile will be extinct.

I don't think it will be extinct, but certainly will undergo major changes.

People holding the most personal of phone conversations on the bus make me wish the next big thing will be some mind of subvocalization detector.

Here's another idea: the elimination of money.

Not just online bill-paying, not just automatic deposit and automatic payment. I'm talking about all of the regular accounts in your life getting paid without you ever being aware that they're being paid. They'd get, like a percentage of your paycheck. Or, as a condition of employing you, your employer would pay all your bills plus an agreed-upon amount of "spending money."

I think there's possibilities here.

NoCoPilot wrote:

None too soon either for Cecliia.

Why? Is Cecilia breaking your heart? Is she shaking your confidence daily?

NoCoPilot wrote:

Here's another idea: the elimination of money.

They already have such a thing. It's called marriage.

This article says Apple's NBT will be one of the following:

• iWatch
  
• iTV
  
• iCar
  
• iGlasses
  
• iHockey
  
• iBeacons
  
• iLens
  
• iMother
  

This morning as I was driving to work I used my iPhone and Siri to write myself an e-mail, hands free, just by saying "send e-mail" and then dictating the contents and addressee.  I could see this sort of technology being integrated into home appliances -- like cookers, thermostat, of course TV and radio. Apple could very easily come out with a voice activated iRemote.

My message to Apple: iDontcare

Wow. Lotta hurt feelings in Cupertino.

Maybe their NBT should be one of these.

Might as well be. It seems to me that Apple has become primarily a toy company. But they do make really cool toys.

_Howard wrote:

But they do make really cool toys.

The new Pro goes on sale tomorrow. Look for major ripples from that.

And what can it do that other computers cannot do?

It replaces a $35,000 Sun workstation and $135,000 image processor.  Puts Pixar-level computing power in the hands of schmoes like you & me.

NoCoPilot wrote:

It replaces a $35,000 Sun workstation and $135,000 image processor.

Uhh...those are some old prices. Working in that manner, my computer replaces a $2,000,000 IBM 370 mainframe (with an additional one billion dollars worth of RAM).

But seriously, folks. The Xeon E5 processor in the Mac Pro is widely available in much cheaper computers. I doubt that it can outperform all other computers. The only real advantage I see is some serious I/O, which is lacking in nearly all consumer computers today. Hell, their I/O may be a valid reason to buy the thing.

Name one.

The IBM 7143B3U server is $12,000. Their 7143B6U is almost $18,000. The B7U is $22k.

You were using ancient prices for ancient hardware. I did the same.