from Hacker News

List of Emerging Technologies

by aleyan on 4/16/21, 6:00 PM with 44 comments

• by NickNaraghi on 4/16/21, 6:31 PM

  From Bezos' last shareholder letter[0]: "Draw the box big around all of society, and you’ll find that invention is the root of all real value creation."

  I'm really hopeful that invention, like the ideas represented on this list, will get more attention and excitement from our youngest and smartest minds. In fact, I believe that having a successful society is dependent on this.

  [0]: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/2020-letter-to...

• by mikepurvis on 4/16/21, 7:35 PM

  While interesting, I'm surprised this hasn't become entangled in WP:NOR:

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research

• by whoisjuan on 4/16/21, 7:41 PM

  Still waiting for graphene to be commercially available in something. It has been hyped as the ultimate super material for decades and yet, it's being used in absolutely nothing.

• by outside1234 on 4/16/21, 6:55 PM

  I am glad to see they have "head transplant" but how dare they forget time travel!

• by imwillofficial on 4/16/21, 10:16 PM

  This is a list I could get lost in for hours...

  So much for my weekend...

  ::rolls up sleeves::

  “Memristors you say?”

  ::is never seen again::

• by Laakeri on 4/16/21, 7:44 PM

  Quantum computing is a prime example of a technology in phase 2, definitely not in "commercialization".

• by russellbeattie on 4/16/21, 8:08 PM

  We're definitely overdue for a major consumer tech introduction.

  * Late 30s: Radio

  * Late 40s: Vinyl Records (Edited: Atomic energy isn't a consumer product)

  * Late 50s: TV

  * Late 60s: Transistors / rockets

  * Late 70s: Microcomputers.

  * Late 80s: Desktop publishing

  * Late 90s: Internet/Web

  * Late 00s: Smartphones/tablets

  * Late 10s: VR? Streaming media? Electric cars? Cryptocurrency?

  It takes a while for a new technology to spread to widespread adoption. For example, the 2007 launch of the iPhone lead to a decade of mobile adoption a few years later. But it seems there's been no new tech paradigm shift lately that's equivalent to the massive influence of previous innovations. Or at least I'm not seeing it yet.

• by agnosticmantis on 4/16/21, 7:34 PM

  Classifying Neural-sensing headset under Aerospace (only because an application is pilot assist tools) seems a bit strange.

• by Borrible on 4/18/21, 4:46 AM

  Is there a list of aborted technologies and technologies that died in childbirth?

  Like, say, electric cars in 1900-1915?

• by alexfromapex on 4/16/21, 6:54 PM

  For entertainment, I’d add laser short throw projectors since I just spent a long time researching them on YouTube.

• by FabiansMustDie on 4/16/21, 7:39 PM

  It reminds me of how useless reference texts have become.

  Wikipedia is decent for a quick overview of a certain topic; but "boy oh boy," is it useless for anything of substance and depth.

  All of these technologies, merely glossed over. Many, perhaps, even complete bunk with no realistic applications or time-frames for usable prototypes, all mixed in together!

  Junk food for the mind.