82 interesting and nice emails, 1 nasty email, and 1 radio interview later, and it seems the little bit of buzz about today's article has died down. The article was the most read and most emailed article on the Irish Times site today, which is great, I hope people enjoyed it. I've gotten some very interesting comments, including Prof. Vani Borooah, his comments on the article are below:
Some more thoughts on what 2050 might be like:
1. Communication will be more fragmented and fractured as text messaging and emails becoome the sole mode of communication.
2. With information so readily available, there will less information on knowledge and more on information: want to learn about the French Revolution? Just read the relevant page in Wikipedia.
3. There will be more emphasis on "virtual" rather than "real" relationships: friends made on Facebook or Beebo will seem real friends. A throwback to the "pen friends" of my generation?
4. The quality of life will change as "home working" becomes more common.
5. There will be greater inequality as those who "can" earn large rewards and those who "can't" slave for low wages.