UNIT 10. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
COMPUTER TALKING
1. Work in groups. Study these predictions of developments in Information Technology from 1997. Which, if any, have come true? Are the others likely to come true? Give reasons for your decisions and report to the class:
2000 – Electronic newspaper;
2002 – Multiple channels of more than 100 Gigabits per second on single fibre;
2003 – Hydraulic chair for VR;
2005 – Personal wearable health monitor;
2005 – Intranets dominate over Internet;
2006 – Fire fighting robots that can find and rescue people;
2007 – Terabits per second on optical fibres over distance;
2010 – Robotic pets;
2010 – Robotic devices within blood vessels;
2017 – Inward parts of the body created with 3D printers;
2025 – Artificial brain implants;
2030 – Quantum networks usage.
Give each of these inventions a number from 0 to 5 depending on whether it isn’t important for people at all (0) or it is really important for our society (5). Work in pairs and share your opinions with each other. Mention the differences and be ready to report them back.