I always think to myself, how the world looks like in future, especially in technology aspect; how people communicate, commute, work and play. But because we are living in the world where Internet is widely in used, computers are common things to children and handphones are being used by almost everyone in this planet, I can hardly think of what are the next inventions.
But I must admit that I really admire Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (1917-2008), who has predicted few technology related inventions including satellite TV and Global Positioning System (GPS). For those who may never heard his name, Sir Arthur was a British science fiction author, futurist and inventor. His famous book, 2001: A Space Odyssey became so popular that it was been adapted in a film. He serves the Royal Air Force as a technician and has proposed a satellite communication system in 1945 which has won him the Franklin Institute Stuart Ballantine Gold Medal.
In August 1956 he has predicted GPS and Satellite TV in a letter to his friend Andrew G. Haley. He stated “For example, the three stations in the 24-hour orbit could provide not only an interference and censorship-free global TV service for the same power as a single modern transmitter, but could also make possible a position-finding grid whereby anyone on earth could locate himself by means of a couple of dials on an instrument about the size of a watch.”
He added, “It might even make possible world-wide person-to-person radio with automatic dialling. Thus no-one on the planet need ever get lost or become out of touch with the community, unless he wanted to be.” His prophecy has now becomes a part of our digital society.
Satellite TV has been so common these days. The service allows us to watch our favourite program from almost anywhere in the world. Latest technology even allow you to enjoy the satellite tv while on the move. And GPS is no longer restricted to military. You can get a GPS Navigation unit for your car (if it doesn’t come with one). Modern cars has been factory installed with Navigation and Entertainment unit. And surprisingly, now there are watches that incoporates a GPS unit inside.
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