Future Tense (6 points)

It is ten years from now, the holiday season of 2030.  You are thinking about a present you might be getting for the holidays.  What is it?  Talk about how you did your holiday shopping? What is your job and how are you doing it?  What is your living situation and what are the major issues of the day?  Please make these questions relevant to any appropriate holidays you celebrate.  

                It’s December 15th, 2030 and I have a busy week of work. My cousin, Grant and I are working on completing our first every Christmas film. My mom and grandmother love the Hallmark channel, so in many ways it is for them.

                By December 20th we finish the film and prepare to release it on Christmas day. I’ve known for months what I want for Christmas. Samsung has developed a cellphone that has as many features as a film camera including attachable lenses. I’ve been wanting this phone ever since I heard it was announced and I asked my parents to get it for me.

                I’ve been working all week and I haven’t had a chance to shop for anyone. I have done Christmas shopping online for years, so it is nothing new to me. Last year, I bought the maileporter: a mailbox that allows packages to instantly arrive in the mailbox after ordering.

I wake up from my bed on December 25th. It is hard to get out of bed but it is already 8:30am and I have to be ready for everyone to come over at 9:00. I quickly rush downstairs and give Grant his early gift: socks. He sarcastically says thanks and then I go to the living room to make sure everyone has their gifts in their specific area.

The doorbell rings and one by one my family enters as we celebrate Christmas the same way we have for decades. Oh, and I got the new phone.

 

It is 50 years from now, the holiday season of 2070, it's looking like it might be probably that you will live to see the next century.  What are the dominant technologies of 2070 and how have they changed the way people behave and relate?  How do you fit in to this technology environment?

December 1, 2070

                As I am writing in my journal like I have my entire life, I realize that no one else writes anymore. They don’t even sell pens or pencils at Target anymore. Who am I kidding, no one even goes to Target anymore…or any store, really.

                I was never really a shopper, but as I’ve gotten older, I have enjoyed going to stores more. It is the only time I really get out. My sister only shops online now. I would call her agoraphobic, but everyone seems to be afraid to go outside these days.

                Connection is something we don’t have anymore…except for “The Connection”. I don’t really understand the technology behind it but I guess you put your thumb on a sensor and it reads your mind and you share it with whoever you want. Pretty weird if you ask me.

                My grandkids are always telling me it would be funny if I joined “The Connection”. They say its simple but then they also say I’m too old for it. I’m assuming we won’t be doing much for Christmas unless I join in on “The Connection”. I saw that Amazon was selling a 10 pack of some old iPhone 25s. They are in never before opened packages. I might give them to the grandkids and see what they think. That’ll really show them my age.

 

It is 200 years from now, the year 2220. Nobody alive today is still alive, at least in the way we think of being "alive" now.  What are the main aspects of the technology environment?  How do humans fit into this environment?  How has the technology environment changed humans?  How do your descendants live, what do they care about, what does it mean to be an artist in the world of 220?

                Here I am in heaven, looking down at the world, so glad that I am not there anymore. I was always a bit suspicious of sci-fi stories where robots take over the world. I always thought it would happen…and it did. However, it didn’t happen the way the movies said it would.

                Humans made technology and over time, they made it more complicated and more human-like. Eventually, technology became so advanced that it was more intelligent than any human that ever existed. Robots didn’t take over the world, humans let them take over the world.

                Some people supported it and others fought against it. By the time anyone rebelled, it was too late. Humans don’t really work anymore. Robots do everything for them. Sadly, many humans feel like they don’t have a purpose in life.

                In my time on earth, most humans had hobbies. In the year 2220 art is the most common hobby but it is different than it once was. All humans have their brains programed into robots. The robots use human personalities to create beautiful and nearly perfect pieces of art.

                Every year, Christmas comes around and I look down, hoping something has changed. I watch my descendants gather around their Christmas tree hologram. One of their robots opens their gifts for them. Another robot projects a Christmas church service on the wall (preached by a robot, music performed by robots). As bizarre as it is for me, it is good to know that some things will always remain.

               

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