We are going to welcome self-driving cars with open hands. Big-city folk, and there are many of us, are tired of slow commutes and the stress of driving. The most profound change impacting carbon-based lifeforms is going to be in travel. Really powerful smarts have gotten much cheaper in the last few years, both in hardware and software, so that the economics are making many new use cases possible. These realities will re-shape the products that electronics OEMs make and sell, but also will change the supply chain used in the manufacturing process itself.Īlthough some technologies haven’t hit real-world use as quickly as we might have hoped, a peek into the future shows some notable potential for a whole new world of capabilities based on the gee whiz technologies of today. These systems can’t think for themselves, though, and that is where this next wave of robotics differs. The reality is that automation has been creeping into business for two or three decades, usually in the form of smart, but fixed, assembly stations. What does this all mean for real people and when? Is it just a fad? After all, we got excited about using drones to deliver sofas by air a couple of years back and the best they seem to have done is become a plaything. “Thinking” computers have a technology phenomenon this year, at least in the trade press.

Brave app crossroads