I was away last week due to flu and typhoons, so I've only just seen this gem from the Intel Developer Forum, which wrapped up last Thursday with a keynote from Intel CTO Justin Rattner.
Rattner's mission: not just to look back at 40 years of Intel history, but also look 40 years ahead to the future. Among other things, Rattner big changes ahead in social interactions, robotics, and improvements in computers' ability to sense the real world.
Specifically, Intel is working on projects like Wireless Resonant Energy Link (WREL) technology that provides wireless power to mobile devices that will also be able to change their shape based on the application, and headsets that can read your brainwaves to control online avatars.
I'll repeat that.
In the next 40 years, we will have wireless power technology that will allow you to keep your devices charged without plugging it in. And the same devices will be able to change shape based on the application - a phone, a headset, a TV remote. And you'll be able to move around in Second Life using only the power of your mind.
Oh, and by 2050, if not sooner, Rattner says, "Machines could even overtake humans in their ability to reason."
Now THAT is a keynote. Every CTO should be giving keynotes like this.
Press release, transcript and slides here, and some Intel-approved video here from their IDF blog. Fascinating stuff.