1. Teleporter
The problem: Everyone wants to get where they're going, faster, with less time in airplanes and security lines.
The solution: Make like Spock and beam yourself there.
Ten-year odds: Vanishingly small. Yes, scientists have managed to teleport information using the principles of quantum physics. These techniques could one day transform communications, but they won't transport a human.
Idea courtesy of Yanki Margalit, CEO of Aladdin Knowledge Systems, and others.
2. A Go-Anywhere Phone
The problem: Dropped calls. Lack of network coverage. Incompatible systems from country to country.
The solution: A phone that works everywhere.
Ten-year odds: Very high. If you have the bucks, you can already use satellite phones pretty much anywhere you can see the sky--but good luck in the London tube or downtown Manhattan. The closest thing currently in existence is probably Thuraya's combination satellite/GMS mobile phone, which roles over from one system to the other depending on your location. But so far, its service doesn't extend to the Americas, East Asia or Australia.
Idea courtesy of Dipchand Nishar, director, Google, and many others.
3. Electronic Paper
The problem: Paper, paper, everywhere--but you can't download the news (or search the Web) on it.
The solution: Electronic paper as light, readable and flexible as regular paper, but with the capabilities of a computer.
Ten-year odds: Fair. Companies including Xerox, E-Ink, Philips, and Apple are rumored to be working on it. Then again, companies have supposedly been "working on it" for more than decade now.
Idea courtesy of Craig Federighi, CTO of Ariba, and others.
4. A Household Chores Robot
The problem: No one wants to clean house.
The solution: Robots.
Ten-year odds: High. There's already the Roomba, iRobot's automatic vacuum cleaner. So how hard can it be to invent one that also makes the bed, does the dishes and scrubs the toilet?
Idea courtesy of Bernard Louvat, CEO of InQ, and others.
5. The Universal Gadget
The problem: Too many gadgets to juggle.
The solution: One that does it all.
Ten-year odds: Very high. Apple's new iPhone, for one, promises to roll a music and video player, e-mailer, telephone, Web browser and camera into one.
Idea courtesy of Peter Young, vice president of MedImmune, and many others.
6. Smart Head Implants
The problem: Our brains may be creative, but they lack the power and speed of computers.
The solution: Implant chips in your brain.
Ten-year odds: Very low. Scientists have implanted chips in rat brains, but we are very far from "jacking into the net" like the cyber-punks of science fiction.
Idea courtesy of Richard Gingras, CEO of Goodmail Systems.
7. The Bubble
The problem: The noise, dirt and hassle of daily life.
The solution: Travel in a protective bubble.
Ten-year odds: Low. Try combining a Segway, a rain poncho and a set of Bose noise-cancelling headphones instead.
Idea courtesy of Carl Wilson, CIO of Marriott International.
8. A Universal Language Translator
The problem: You're in Beijing this week and Berlin the next--and you just haven't had time to master both Mandarin and German.
The solution: A simultaneous, all-language text and sound translator.
Ten-year odds: Middling. Translation programs exist, and they are getting better, but we are still a very long way from an electronic version of the Babel Fish, the critter from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that sits in your ear and makes foreign words instantly understandable.
Idea courtesy of Atefeh Riazi, CIO of Ogilvy, and others.
9. A Convenient And Inexpensive Water Desalinator
The problem: One in five humans has no access to safe drinking water.
The solution: Turn the oceans into clean drinking water using desalination techniques. Desalination exists, but it is expensive and energy-intensive. A cheaper method could hydrate vastly more people and crops.
Ten-year odds: Middling. The science is advancing year by year.
Idea courtesy of Bob Beauchamp, CEO of BMC Software.
10. Advanced Autopilot For Cars
The problem: Paying attention to the road can be so dull and time-consuming.
The solution: Sophisticated autopilot. Tell the car your destination and it handles the rest--while you nap, read or answer e-mails.
Ten-year odds: Depends on what you mean. Cars are getting more automated, spurred in part by competitions like the DARPA Urban Challenge, which is drawing university robotics teams. For ordinary consumers, door-to-door driverless service is a distant dream, but we may soon have cars that can communicate with other vehicles or pilot themselves along stretches of sensor-equipped "smart highways."
Idea courtesy of Kenneth Auman, CIO of The Hartford, and others.
11. A Physical Search Engine
The problem: You lose stuff.
The solution: A "physical" search engine.
Ten-year odds: Low. It could work if everything you owned had a chip installed (perhaps RFID). But the technical hurdles are huge. Plus, how much would you really pay to be reminded that your car keys are under the sofa cushions--again?
Idea courtesy of Cameron Forbes, CIO of Channell Commercial, and others.
12. A Time Machine
The problem: You made an egregious mistake yesterday.
The solution: Go back in time and redo the day without the blooper.
Ten-year odds: Zero. Backward time-travel is impossible according to our current understanding of physics.
Idea courtesy of Zach Nelson, CEO, NetSuite.
13. Automatic Weight-Loss Belt
The problem: Losing weight takes so much dieting and exercise.
The solution: Jiggle it off while you watch television or work.
Ten-year odds: Poor. The closest thing we have to "automatic" is plastic surgery.
Idea courtesy of Sam Starr, CEO of Sterling Commerce.
14. Perfect Vision Correction
The problem: As your eyes get old, they play tricks on you, and trifocals are no fun.
The solution: A corrective procedure that restores your eyes to 20-20 vision.
Ten-year odds: Middling. LASIK surgery can already correct basic near- and far-sightedness, but surgeons can't yet solve all problems related to aging eyes.
Idea courtesy of Tom Bishop, CTO, BMC
15. Youth Pill
The problem: Your youth and beauty are fading fast.
The solution: Take a pill and stay young forever.
Ten-year odds: Vanishingly small. There are plenty of ways to fake it cosmetically, but that's not really the same thing. Look on the bright side: Life expectancy is getting longer.
Idea courtesy of Robert Davidson, CIO of Tiffany and Co. Nina
Are we called "DAWGs" because we stick our noses up people's butts? (RIP Buzz)
Yep, you're a postwhore-billyvance
