IBM is the one who published an interesting article from the third annual IBM Next Five in Five, revealing the future of technology – predictions, which gives us an answer to the question “Why is technology important?” but also tells us how will the latest gadgets in technology evolve in the near future.
The answer to “Why is technology important today?” is simple: -Because it makes our lives easier and more pleasant. And it doesn’t require spending lots of money on luxury products, but just to change our focus on what really counts and what really helps improving each of our life’s aspects, depending on our needs.

IBM first mentions the green technology aspects, which should be the most important criteria when looking for new gadgets. The company says that in the near future the solar panels will be built into asphalt, paint and even windows. What does this mean exactly? –Well, it refers at the fact that by enabling solar energy in sidewalks, driveways, siding, paint, rooftops and windows with the use of thin-film solar cells will save an enormous amount of energy costs. This will happen in the next five years or so and will become very affordable as the manufacturing process will involve this new type of solar cell that can be designed 100 times thinner than silicon-wafer cells, at lower costs. The new solar cells will be so thin that companies will be able to print them on cell phones, notebooks, cars and clothes.

The second innovation will be introduced in the healthcare sector and the main beneficiaries will be the patients. According to IBM, who got involved in these technology advancements, we will watch the crystal balls, used before by sorcerers, and find out which the right foods for our genetic map are. Each individual has his own genetic map and soon doctors will provide us with it so we can change our lifestyle into a healthier one.
Maybe you are that type allowed to eat potato chips and lots of sweets, but you don’t know that. Well, in the next years your family doctor will tell you exactly what you can eat without damaging your health, and it won’t cost you more than $200.

Speech recognition is becoming popular and you can enable it on your laptop and cell phone as well. In the next years you will be able to talk to the Internet and it will answer. The navigation will be done handsfree and you won’t need the keyboard and mouse anymore.

Also, IBM sais we will have our own digital shopping assistant. Shops will be equipped with touchscreens, voice-activated kiosks that will tell you what clothes fit your style best and what accessories could complement your already chosen items. More than that, the same devices will display shop’s ratings and customers’ reviews. In addition you will receive discount coupons.

The fifth innovation mentioned by IBM is more complex and involves a large network of devices, each with different function, which will work to help us remind of appointments, things we need to buy from the market in the week-end, or at what hour we have to attend a conference.
This network includes video cameras and microphones, all interconnected and programmed to record our conversations and activities. The central computer will store all the data and alert us on these appointments.

The number of possibilities enabled by the existent technology advancements is endless and we could say that nothing is impossible if we trust it.