The rise and fall of communication systems.

[Kadushu]

File this under "thinking out loud"
Seems to me that all means of communication go through a certain life cycle which looks roughly like:
Invention-> testing, use and development in academic circles-> use by business/wealthy people -> scaled and cheapened for general populace -> ubiquity and rise of "junk" -> slowly superceded by newer alternative -> outside of business only scams, junk and elderly relatives use it.

For example telephone calls, emails and even text messages seem to have gone through this, with exceptions of course. Snail mail is dying due to cost and fax was never really used much outside business and is completely dead now. An argument could be made for certain messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger.

Could a similar lifecycle apply to things outside strictly communication such as AI, for example? Any thoughts? What will replace the most popular systems of today such as WhatsApp?

 

[Chris]

I think AI will lead to the fall of some methods of communication, though I am not sure it will replace any.

Social media is becoming more and more useless as we are unable to see truth from reality with AI bots making up something like 60% of internet traffic. Places like Reddit are becoming incredibly unreliable now, as whilst previously you couldn't take comments as fact, you could at least trust that they came from a real human. I'd actually not be surprised if more and more people revert to older mediums of communication, in smaller social circles where they can be sure that the people they are interacting with are human.

Personally I think it might be a positive in the long term, as Social Media based communication is inevitably going to turn out to have been one of the biggest (if not biggest) mental health crisis' of the century.

 

[Pattree]

Breaker 19
CB and an 8 track!
Woo Hoo!
Catch my 20!!!!!!

 

[TeeDee]

File this under "thinking out loud"
Seems to me that all means of communication go through a certain life cycle which looks roughly like:
Invention-> testing, use and development in academic circles-> use by business/wealthy people -> scaled and cheapened for general populace -> ubiquity and rise of "junk" -> slowly superceded by newer alternative -> outside of business only scams, junk and elderly relatives use it.

For example telephone calls, emails and even text messages seem to have gone through this, with exceptions of course. Snail mail is dying due to cost and fax was never really used much outside business and is completely dead now. An argument could be made for certain messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger.

Could a similar lifecycle apply to things outside strictly communication such as AI, for example? Any thoughts? What will replace the most popular systems of today such as WhatsApp?

I think the next step will be more integrated comms - bordering on near bio engineering.
We seem to have a liking for monitors and having that shrunk down into Glass form so reality that we 'see' with out biological eye can be digitally overlayed with information and visuals.

I appreciate glasses have had a mix start but I think they will return , along with maybe contact lenses that have a digital input - sounds very William Gibsonesque but I can see ( pun ) it coming .

I'm still surprised we don't have car windows ( front ) with integrated sat navs and message , AV control yet that would allow one to see through the glass but also read messages etc and follow a girt big sat nav arrow to follow.


Of all the progs on TV that I thought would never come to an end - Tomorrow's World was one of them...

 

[Chris]

I'm still surprised we don't have car windows ( front ) with integrated sat navs and message , AV control yet that would allow one to see through the glass but also read messages etc and follow a girt big sat nav arrow to follow.

We sort of do have it with some HUDs in cars. My previous car had satnav, speed limit, fuel (range) data and all sorts projected onto the screen.

Unless you meant the windscreen being more like a transparent iPad which you can literally interact with, in which case I'd be surprised if the technology doesn't exist somewhere, but when you consider that the windscreen is one of the most often replaced parts of a car other than the tyres, the cost/benefit just doesn't add up.

Windscreen insurance excesses are usually cheap 1) Because they're fairly easy to replace and 2) because insurers want to encourage people to not just 'put up with' a cracked/chipped windscreen, as the windscreen itself is often structurally integral to the safety of the car and having a weak point makes the car more dangerous in the event of a crash. Making this part more expensive and therefore inevitably driving up the cost of replacement fairly significantly would perhaps not have good outcomes beyond just financial.

I suspect where we might get to is voice/gesture controls which are then projected onto the screen like a HUD (probably what you were talking about before I came on duty as Captain Killjoy) which some cars already have, without the windscreen itself being something to project onto, rather than physically interact with.

 

[Pattree]

I still use an old Garmin Sat-Nav positioned at the top of the windscreen where it is constantly giving me head up information:-
Speed (Velocity = much more accurate than my speedometer)
Current Speed limits
Compass Direction
Time

Then when I’m using the navigator:
Route
Traffic warnings
Best lane through major junctions
ETA

All voice controlled if that’s what I want.
I’m not sure how that works work as a windscreen projection, especially at night but if it could work, that would be fantastic.

 

[John Fenna]

I don't do "Social Media" (bar this , a couple of other websites and messenger), do not have a smart phone, never used Sat Nav (except when doing a bit of mapping on Lake Volta in Ghana), never had an MP 3 or 4....
I like paper maps and live phone chats - but - best of all face to face talks The best communication ever!

 

[Pattree]

I don't do "Social Media" (bar this , a couple of other websites and messenger), do not have a smart phone, never used Sat Nav (except when doing a bit of mapping on Lake Volta in Ghana), never had an MP 3 or 4....
I like paper maps and live phone chats - but - best of all face to face talks The best communication ever!

When you need to find a client in the arch-end of Brum on an industrial estate that could house the Minotaur, and need to arrive on time then a paper map, an A-Z and stopping to ask post personal will work. Been there, done that. You’d need to have given yourself an extra hour!
Now - Meeting over and all I need to do say to the satnav “Home” And I know I’ll get home. Maybe through every mire and midden in three counties but I’ll get home at the time it estimates.

I certainly don’t need to be navigated between Britains major towns and cities but knowing that there is an accident ahead, finding a better route on the fly are all so much better than the old days.

On the other hand I will definitely still need the sat nav for the final four turns before reaching Rough Close later this week. (Edited to add: and I’ll still drive past the entrance and have to turn back.)

I suppose the ultimate will be a self driving car that just arrives, picks me up with my luggage and subsequently drops me off. There is no point in me owning the thing.
Nah - not in my lifetime for sure.

 

[The Frightful]

I think the next step will be more integrated comms - bordering on near bio engineering.
We seem to have a liking for monitors and having that shrunk down into Glass form so reality that we 'see' with out biological eye can be digitally overlayed with information and visuals.

I appreciate glasses have had a mix start but I think they will return , along with maybe contact lenses that have a digital input - sounds very William Gibsonesque but I can see ( pun ) it coming .

I'm still surprised we don't have car windows ( front ) with integrated sat navs and message , AV control yet that would allow one to see through the glass but also read messages etc and follow a girt big sat nav arrow to follow.


Of all the progs on TV that I thought would never come to an end - Tomorrow's World was one of them...

This could be possible with a sort of mirrored head up display? A bit like the old Toyota sign mirrored into the rear screen of the old MR2 ,?‍

 

[The Frightful]

Not sure what happened to my emoji but that wasn't what i put in TD, honest!