Future Files (PDF)

Will machines become more intelligent than humans? Will foods in our fridge speak to each other using radio waves, then come up with options for tonight's menu? What about a pill that improves your memory? Or a front door that tells you if the person knocking is a stranger? These are just some of the forecasts about how the world will change in the next fifty years that Richard Watson explores in Future Files: The 5 Trends that Will Shape the Next Fifty Years. William Gibson meets Charles Handy in this witty look at our possible future, filled with provocative predictions about how the world will really look in fifty years' time. Future Files examines emerging patterns and developments in society, technology, economy and business, forming educated speculations as to where these all will lead. Watson predicts that the 5 most important trends for the next 50 years will be: 1. Aging 2. Power Shift Eastwards 3. Global Connectivity 4. GRIN Technologies - Genetics, Robotics, Internet and Nanotechnology 5. The Environment Watson's book, however, is not just an entertaining bunch of predictions. Indispensable for business analysts, strategists and organizations that need to stay ahead of the game, the goal of Future Files is to liberate our collective and individual imaginations so that we can see the familiar in a new light and the unfamiliar with greater clarity—to make individuals and businesses think about where we are going and to consider whether that's really where we want to be.