| SILICON VALLEY'S NEXT BIG THING, NEO-LUDDITES, JETPACKS Technology Isn't Just What's in Your Pocket A few tech visionaries like Peter Thiel have been complaining for years that Silicon Valley is too focused on seemingly ephemeral things like social media or new mobile phone features, or better yet "social-mobile," where you combine the two. Meanwhile, it has moved away from building physical things. Well, it looks like the pendulum is swinging back. "For more than a decade, Silicon Valley's technology investors and entrepreneurs obsessed over social media and mobile apps that helped people do things like find new friends, fetch a ride home or crowdsource a review of a product or a movie. Now Silicon Valley has found its next shiny new thing. And it does not have a 'Like' button. "The new era in Silicon Valley centers on artificial intelligence and robots, a transformation that many believe will have a payoff on the scale of the personal computing industry or the commercial internet, two previous generations that spread computing globally. Computers have begun to speak, listen and see, as well as sprout legs, wings and wheels to move unfettered in the world." This report still reflects some of the same old biases, though, because it focuses far more on the software side of the story, artificial intelligence, than on the hardware side: the robots that artificial intelligence is being developed to operate. You will notice that this is a big crusade for RealClearFuture: the idea that "tech" is about way more than the latest iPhone upgrade. --- Luddite Lite Robert D. Atkinson writes for RCF about "Tech's Fall from Political Grace." "Let's not forget that in achieving much of its promise, tech did exactly what it said it would do, and what most consumers hoped it would do: disrupt industries--for the better. But now the Empire--established industries and professions from hotel chains and taxi drivers--is striking back by banding together to elicit sympathy from the public and a helping hand from lawmakers and regulators with the power to throw sand in tech's gears.... "You'd think most U.S. elites would remain on the side of supportive and light-touch policymaking when it comes to tech. But alas, many of them have become doubters, deeply unsure about whether tech is a progressive force or not. Claiming, incorrectly, that tech is responsible for widespread job loss, worker insecurity, and income inequality, many elites have become what you might call 'Luddite Light.'" Which is a problem, because the future needs a constituency. --- There's plenty more at our main page, including some interesting discussion about the increasing complexity of our technological systems. No One Can Understand the Tech of the Future
What NASA Can Tell Us About Autopilot's Limits
The State of Smart Homes
Virtual Reality Could Be Your Next Painkiller
Silicon Valley Wants to Create Space 2.0
Why Are Writers Obsessed With Emotionless Futures? Check it all out. --- The Future Has Arrived I don't know what you think the future looks like, but I think it looks like Bubba Watson's golf cart jetpack. And yes, those aren't really jets, they're rotors. And that's almost certainly not actually Bubba Watson piloting it. And the whole thing is technological overkill. But when the future arrives, you don't nitpick. --Rob Tracinski
Editor, RealClearFuture Follow @RealClearFuture on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. Send comments, recommendations, and submissions to rob@realclearfuture.com. | 
