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Data Storage:
Future computers will be able to store more and more data into a smaller package. Currently, the new DVD will be the same size as a CD, but because of multilevel storage techniques, they can store 17 gigabytes per disk. Lasers are being designed that will, instead of using red light to read data will use blue light, which has a shorter wavelength and therefore can be focused to a smaller spot. Magneto-Optical drives exist already and will become more popular in the future. Magneto-Optical drives use the laser to heat the plastic and a magnet to shift the reflector. As soon as the plastic cools, which only takes a fraction of a second, the data is permanent. All of this has a projected lifetime of about forty years before deterioration begins in their format.
Even better will be holographic storage. A three inch by three inch by three inch cube will store terabytes (thousands of gigabytes) of data.
If you are still think a five hundred megabyte hard drive is a lot of storage space, think again. When storage techniques improve, so does the demand for disk space. Full-screen, movie quality video will not fit on a DVD without some compression. MPEG2 compressed video takes several megabytes for each second.
Magnetic Media is becoming obsolete. The only advantage is that it is cheaper and simpler. However, it's also flimsy, vulnerable to magnetic fields, and tends to loose data after being left in storage.
RAM and ROM will always be necessary. Speeds will increase, chip size will increase. Flash RAM and EEPROM chips will be the rage for tiny storage. Technologies are being developed to allow chips to be stacked, which will make a matchbox sized case capable of holding hundreds of megabytes of memory.
Be careful of miniaturized technologies, however. The smaller the size of a storage medium, the easier it is to damage it and the more damaging dust is. Magnetic media is even worse, because of its susceptibility to many forms of radiation.
Security:
Computer software will booby trap equipment to prevent it from being used if stolen. Identification scanners will become accessible for the common users. With pen based computing, signature identification will be included. Not only will the pen based computer read the form of the signature, it measures the pressure of your hands, so you can't trace somebody else's signature onto the screen. Fingerprint scanners will replace many locks. All other locks will be replaced by passcodes or electronic keys. People will carry some kind of computer identification with them, probably a microchip encased in a metal can or a card. Using special encryption techniques, the passcodes will never reveal the code while allowing authentication.
Manufacturers can force the customers to always use their batteries by designing special batteries with a specific shape and connection scheme.
Encryption will become accessible for everybody. The phone companies will encrypt all communication that could be tapped in a format that is crackable by them but requires more computer power than the average criminal has access to crack in. Additionally, other companies will provide extremely capable encryption for the security conscious. However, they might not tell you if there is a hole in the algorithm. Those people who discover holes in popular encryption algorithms will need to disappear, either by their choice, or somebody else's.
Tapping and surveillance is a game of chess. For every form of surveillance, there will develop a counter to it. If the surveyor has more expensive gear, he will probably break through the countermeasures. Otherwise, he will probably be found.
For communications lines there are taps and decoders. However, there are also scanners. White noise generators will prevent people from listening in, but they do not always work. With a boom microphone or a laser scanner that measures the vibrations of nearby objects, white noise can be sometimes circumvented. Radio is public, all it takes is a receiver, however, encryption will make sure that nobody can listen in.
There are several methods of making sure that nobody suspects anything. One of my favorite techniques is to hide data inconspicuously in something that will not arouse suspicion. A set library of video clips of two people having a video conversation can communicate simple messages. Additionally, in an uncompressed video link, you can pass data by fluctuating the brightness of a single pixel. A pornographic group can be a secret message base. Television signals leave room for fast communications in the vertical retrace system. Radio has sidebands that are left unused. These technologies can prove to provide better security than encryption.
The business of computer security has aroused considerable concern. The science of information warfare has been created. Recently, the U.S. Air Force created the 609th Information Warfare Squadron to protect our computer networks and attack enemy data networks. In a recent Mexican raid on rebel forces, they found disks and computers in the rebel headquarters that were used to effect psychological warfare. The era of information warfare is here; it will only become more prevalent.
Chip Developments:
Most of today's chips are made of silicon and are packaged into small spidery plastic cases. In the future, both of these qualities will change. Gallium-Arsenide chips are slowly reaching marketability. Once Gallium-Arsenide chips are established, carbon and other exotic small-atom elements will be used.
Optical computing is slowly gaining popularity. Eventually, completely optical computers will be developed. Technology is being developed to meld computer chips and fiber optic links.
Multi-Chip modules are currently on the market. Instead of one chip per case, several chips are mixed. When chips are closer, there is less lightspeed delay and signal loss. Additionally, chips might be stacked to improve density. Three dimensional routing will make connections shorter. However, the more you pack the chips together, the greater the heat problem you have and the higher the rate of defective chips.
One idea that has been floating around is to manufacture a chip that spans an entire silicon platter. People ask why chips are sawn apart in the first place. However, between 10% and 90% of the chips on a platter are not usable due to errors. Companies have devised methods of mapping out the bad areas, however, nobody has made anything marketable.
Quantum Well Optoelectronics use quantum sized holes in chips to produce photons. This creates a laser on an angstrom scale. Using these techniques, a screen of micropixels could be created that would be a ultra-thin screen with extremely high resolution.
Nanites show promise. Today, extremely tiny machines are being built with techniques that were developed for computer chips. Has almost no inertia or friction. Micro mechanical computers are possible, made on a molecular scale.
Analog chips might make a comeback. Originally scrapped in favor of the more precise digital chip, they allow fuzzy logic and greater speeds for some operations.
Future chips may be powered by hydrogen instead of electricity. Manufacturing techniques exist to place fuel cells on a chip. Bathe the chip in liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Note that this might also help cool the chip, except that a fuel cell generates heat.
Personal Communications And Computers:
Tiny computers are in the future. A computer with more power than today's desktops will fit inside of a case the size of a tiny notepad. Large computers built like a clipboard will be the favored size. They will be as easy to use as a sheet of paper, complete with personal information managers that actually work.
However, people who carry their entire life on a handheld computer in their pocket will soon discover critical errors that will wipe their computer clean. Portable computers will have durability problems. Don't expect to be in a firefight and then immediately consult your computer.
A cellular phone will fit inside of the ear. Pagers will be obsolete, integrated into the electronic mail network and replaced by notepad computers.
Desktop computers will contain supercomputer level performance and mix it with a magazine-quality color printer, a high resolution screen, powerful communication options, and VR gear.
Hollywood will be obsolete, because people will be able to computer-generate movies from a desktop. Underground publications will have the same capabilities as the mainstream publications. Anybody will be able to generate a computer generated video indistinguishable from the real thing.
Look for computer walls. Instead of a whiteboards, blackboards, overhead projectors, bulletin boards, and projectors, everything will be done on a computer screen built into the walls.
The Net:
The Net will be everywhere. IP will be replaced by IPng, but TCP will remain the same. Cheap radio transpounders attached to lightposts will enable mobile communications, replacing today's tall cellular towers. Fiber Optic links for high traffic links and copper links for everybody else will form the network. Instead of one phone company, there will be many net companies. Each town can choose its net company.
Civic minded individuals will set up networked libraries. Business will charge for people to access their data. Advertising might make the Net as bad as today's TV and telephone marketing is, however, intelligent mail cullers and brilliant hackers will offer solutions to drive out the intrusions.
Carefully consider the interface you choose. Cyberspace, like in Neuromancer, can loose realism. "Black Ice", i.e security software capable of killing the user is hard to implement in the real world. Why? Well, the computer you are connected to is not handling your presentation. You are. Even with a direct neural interface, there will be adequate safety locks in place that will save your skin. Imagery could be generated that would cause an epileptic seizure, subliminal messages could reprogram your mind, and software could cut you off. However, there will probably be software that can recognize visual attacks and block them. Software damage is possible, but difficult. Damaging the hacker's hardware is virtually impossible.
I recommend that cyber-combat be handled out of a virtual reality interface. The only real way to break in is to mess with the internals of the computer, not the image it presents.
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