Thoughts from reading "the socio - cultural horizon" from the book vision of the future by Philips

My understanding of the text:

The text seems to imply that fifteen years ago people were trying to cope and keep up with a rapidly changing society. Demands of modern life and an ever-accelerating rate of living meant people were experiencing time and space in an entirely new format. Technology enabled people to manage multiple tasks simultaneously and things such as work, play, education and entertainment no longer seemed strictly separated. This created new patterns and behaviours amongst individuals and in society. Moments of rest, absorption and reflection between activities were slowly neglected. As people gradually started to restructure according to new criteria, the danger of people losing sight of themselves and their roots began to emerge. The outcome of this vulnerability was a desire to try and restore the balance between activity and rest, between being swept along and being anchored. People were starting to seek meaning by looking at their own personal lives and bridge the gap between the past and the future. Such tendencies, of people wanting to clearly define their space, could be witnessed on a number of different levels. Break-up of former communist states, religious fundamentalism and people generally withdrawing into their own homes and social groups rather than participating in community activities and projects. A trend often referred to as 'cocooning'. An act of insulating or hiding oneself from the normal social environment, which may be perceived as distracting, unfriendly, dangerous or otherwise unwelcome, at least for the present.

How is this relevant today and in the future:

By looking at what people and society in the early nineties were like, considerations on how things may have changed since can hopefully help predict how things may develop in the future.

I think the principle of 'cocooning' is interesting, as this trend has continued since the nineties but also changed slightly. When the term was first used , technology was making people stay at home and become isolated, for example by watching TV rather than going to the cinema. Today although people may physically be as isolated as before, technology especially due to the Internet, has allowed them to socialise through cyberspace. Online gaming, forums, blogs, skype, msn, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace etc. are all places were people can share amongst each other, form small communities and work together. In a way, we have become more sociable, more accustomed to cyberspace and less alienated and frightened of new technologies. It seems like nothing in terms of new technology would surprise us any more, anything is possible, and we are not as sceptical as users as we used to be. Services providing easy solutions and ways for saving us time has lead us to acceptance. Most people have no issues with Internet banking, online shopping or giving out personal identification for membership purposes any more. Whether this is a good or bad thing, is saving us time or driving us into new avenues of time consumption is all a matter of debate. One thing is certain, it is the way things are going. One could argue that humans have been facing such challenges for a long time, when the bank was first introduced people would have been hugely sceptical about putting their money into someone else hand.

So how will these new ideas progress in the future? I think that now we have become used to the new pace of living, found trust and acceptance in technologies used in everyday situations and realised the potentials of improving services, sharing information and socialising in cyberspace, we will seek ways for making these more accessible and mobile. As with most things in history, different needs and desires tend to go round in circles. Now that we have been through a period of 'cocooning' in front of our screens, it would only seem natural that we would want to be more active, manoeuvrable, deeper involved, wanting to make a difference, and have options to freely use technology when wanted and needed. I suppose there are signs of this happening already in mobile technology. Blackberries are the newest in this direction, with access to emails and the Internet through your mobile. So to summarise what I believe to be the coming trends regarding future technology:

• A continuing want for quicker easier accessibility in services.

• Products made of, and providing, greener solutions.

• A continuous desire for mobility.

• Many devices brought together into a single device (less things to produce, keep in order and carry around).

• More intense, realistic, immersed virtual experiences.

• A continuing need for user centred products you can customise, personalise and get feedback from.

• Further want for socialising in very selective communities.