Posted 4 января 2021,, 13:55

Published 4 января 2021,, 13:55

Modified 24 декабря 2022,, 22:37

Updated 24 декабря 2022,, 22:37

Being a creature in a plastic box: 20 things the digital future brings us

Being a creature in a plastic box: 20 things the digital future brings us

4 января 2021, 13:55
Many advances in digital technology, instead of making our life easier, will make it extremely difficult.

Network analyst Alexander Rozov carefully read Ramis Ganiev's article “20 familiar things, the existence of which we will soon forget”, made a short extract from it, listing the things that we will give up in the digital world, and commented on the consequences of these changes:

1) Keys... in the future, doors may be protected by fingerprint scanners or a camera with facial recognition. Electronic locks with an access code or a fingerprint scanner can be ordered and installed on the door right now.

...And then four categories of people will freely enter your apartment whenever they want: - Hackers (by breaking your "smart lock" via the Internet). - Thieves with dummies (portrait mask + fingertips) - Police and all special services (they will have "electronic master keys" by law) - Those who buy access codes from the manufacturer of "smart locks" But you will not get into the apartment if one of the listed categories changes the owner's data in the "smart lock".

2) Passwords. In the future, all of this will also likely be replaced by fingerprint scanners. Smartphones and laptops have long been equipped with them, and in a few years fingerprints will open access to websites.

...And then see the same thing as in item 1.

3) Drivers. By 2024, almost all car manufacturers want to launch models with an automatic driving system. People will just get into the salon, indicate the desired point on the map and go about their business while the car takes them to the place...

...And it will bring sooner or later to such a place, as shown in this video:

4) Traffic jams and accidents. Cars will drive independently and will constantly communicate with each other. They will be able to choose the fastest routes, but they will not interfere with each other.

...How they will not interfere - see item 3. In my opinion, cork is better than auto-da-fe.

5) Parking meters. Having stopped in the parking lot, the driver must independently set the time of his arrival on the timer. Inspectors use such counters to check the time that cars are idle in parking lots. But in the future, these vehicles will be replaced by a license plate recognition system, and the money for parking will be debited from the drivers' cards.

...So that every hacker could charge you any amount for parking, and you could not prove that you did not park there (after all, the "smart" parking lot recognized you). And if you have an expensive car, then the car thieves will easily track it in the parking lot and leave as if they were on their own (after all, they have electronic keys - see item 1).

6) Bank cards - disappear now. Even in small towns, you can pay money using the NFC built into smartphones. Moreover, even ATMs are equipped with contactless technologies, so there is almost no need for plastic cards. Virtual cards are our future.

...Thus, there will be a competition: who will steal your money faster - hackers in parking lots, hackers in banks, or hackers in supermarkets.

7) Cash. Paper money and coins will also become useless junk. Many people are already accustomed to contactless payments using smartphones or smartwatches.

...It is very convenient for thieves, for blackmailers, for your bureaucrat-boss at work for the police, for all special services (including the tax one). They will remotely block the payment option of your smartphone with one key press - so that you come running to sincerely answer all their bad questions. In general, it is convenient for everyone except you.

8) Remote controls. In the early 2000s, remote controls lay on sofas and tables in all homes. They allowed you to change channels on TV, turn on music on a tape recorder, adjust air conditioning, and so on. But today only a smartphone is needed to control modern technology.

...And most importantly, they allow any hacker to run your home. What an improvement over an outdated remote control!

9) Plastic - literally flooded our planet and it can be found even in the most remote corners of the world's oceans. Some countries have already banned the use of reusable bags and this initiative will soon be adopted by other countries. Instead of rustling bags, people will start using reusable bags that can be washed and reused.

...Very progressive! After each trip to the supermarket, you wash your bag. Especially progressive - hand washing after raw fish. It helps a lot to feel like a trash of the "digital world".

10) Cables for charging smartphones. Since about 2000, our tables, sofas and drawers have been equipped with charging cables for smartphones, tablets and other devices. But for several years now, expensive models have supported wireless charging. You just need to put the device on a special station and that's it - the battery is charged.

...This is very convenient for any hacker who will charge everything from your network at your expense, including his electric car (which he previously parked at your expense too - see 5).

11) Paper checks. Every time in stores we are handed paper receipts with a list of purchased products and their prices. They fill our pockets and wallets, but this will come to an end in the future. Since many of us are already paying for goods using smartphones, all information is recorded in the application.

...This is very convenient for anyone who wants to collect information about your movements and purchases. You are at a glance - very convenient for everyone except you.

12) Paper documents. If you look at it this way, all paperwork will disappear in the future. Together with money and checks, even documents will be transferred to smartphones. And this is good, because in virtual form they will be more intact.

...And what a safety! Every hacker, without fiddling around on trifles, can steal your identity, and then issue a bank loan on your behalf, say, for a million dollars. Progress! Now even more can be stolen from you than you have!

13) Wallets. There will be no cash, checks or documents. And this means that the wallets in which we are used to storing all this will disappear. It will be impossible to surprise someone with a fat wallet - everything will be stored in a virtual format.

...Well, of course! (see items 7, 11, 12)

14) Hard drives. Hard disks allow computers to store a lot of information. But the days when it was important for people to store many files locally are over. Today, for comfortable use of a computer, a 256 Gigabyte SSD is enough, because most of the data is stored in cloud storage.

...Where they are available to any hacker or official - for viewing, editing and erasing. And you have nothing. You have no control over anything. You are nobody.

15) Calculators. In the 2000s, many people had a calculator with them. It was especially useful for students and salespeople. But today any smartphone can perform these functions.

...It seems to me alone that the calculator is elementary more convenient? Besides, for some reason I don't want every hacker to see what I believe.

16) Mechanical transmission. Above, we talked about the fact that people will stop driving cars because they will be able to drive on their own. But this will really only happen by 2040. For about 20 years, people will continue to be drivers, but this will be more easy thanks to the automatic transmission.

...Like. there is nothing wrong with an automatic transmission. But they will start to make her "smart". And for some reason I don't want the gearbox to make the decision on the highway for me. What if some aspiring hacker decides to prank?

17) Signatures. Any important document becomes valid only after a person puts his signature. However, during the coronavirus pandemic, people were unable to meet in person. Therefore, electronic signatures have gained even more popularity than before.

...And now any hacker can transact on your behalf. He already has a digital confirmation of your identity (see above), so of course, your signature will be useful to him.

18) Shopping centers. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many shopping malls have been forced to remain closed for a long time. In order not to lose income, many retailers have learned how to sell products over the Internet. You can order goods without leaving your home - they are delivered by a courier.

...And you will pay a monopolist like Amazon or Alibaba without even being able to touch the product and physically select the product before making a purchase. Amazing discoveries in the quality of the goods that the courier will bring you! And what a pleasure it is to wait for a courier who has decided to drink a cola somewhere, chat with friends, and will arrive a couple of hours later than the appointed one.

19) Working people. Many "human" tasks are already performed by robots, and this fact worries many people. More and more robots are being installed in factories that do the job much faster and more accurately than humans.

This is the only point to which there is no objection. The only trouble is that today's flawed digital world cannot do just that. Those. robotization of production (as opposed to the transformation of a person into a smartphone-controlled robot) just does not work for the "digital giants" - just as the robot-driver of a car does not work for them either (see above). 05 June 2020. Crashes on the assembly line and annual update: why Apple has abandoned production automation in favor of manual labor. The company spent years and “millions of dollars” on robots to assemble, but was disappointed with the idea. The "digital world" can only deal with numbers, but not with physical materials.

20) Open offices. In the future, many people will work remotely, but office workers are unlikely to disappear anywhere. But the office space will obviously look different. The coronavirus pandemic has shown us how contagious diseases can be. Therefore, there will probably be partitions between office workers in the future. And conversations at the cooler will be kept to a minimum.

...Now you are rightfully called an office hamster. A wordless lonely creature in a tight plastic box. Thank you, digital world, for this happiness!

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