As Computers Alter Cultures

It's fascinating to consider some of the potential social and even political ramifications of such a turn toward ubiquitous information availability. The necessity to learn languages might disappear. If the devices necessary to participate in this information revolution were cheap enough, and the network truly ubiquitous and global, the economic playing field could be leveled. If information is power, everyone would have it. That's the kind of breakthrough the developing world needs.

Even moral codes and behavior might alter, if all that available information led to a profound transparency in human conduct. One of my beliefs is that people will routinely record their entire lives on some equivalent of video.

Sharing your personal history - warts and all - might then become routine, in order to improve your perceived trustworthiness. Computing is now so important that to talk of its future is inevitably to consider the future fate of mankind.

Read the entire David Kirkpatrick article on the future of computing here.