Original 2021 statement: We will have figured out how to stop light in its tracks, which will have big implications for the future of all computer and chip technology
What Jim has written about this
From “People Will Always Laugh At Your Crazy Ideas: They Are Usually Wrong!” (March 2017)
Many people have a belief system that has them convinced that the world of tomorrow will look much like it does today, with the result that when they are confronted by the future, they dismiss it.
Case in point - back in 2006, I was the opening keynote speaker for a conference of telecom and cable engineers. I had about 3,000 of them in the room. One of the trends I outlined was that we would see accelerating innovation in terms of bandwidth capacities, particularly as we innovated in terms of optical fibre technology. I suggested to them, for example, that one day soon we would build a router that would stop light in its tracks, examine its packets, and in doing so, see innovative opportunities that would lead to massive increases in accelerated bandwidth.
Need another example? How about printing solar cells on paper? Crazy idea? Not at all! Here’s a clip in which I’m talking about the fact that at MIT, they are learning how to print solar cells onto paper! Oh, and the whole issue of how we can stop light in its tracks…
From “Daily Inspiration: “It’s time to move from triage to tomorrow!”” (January 2023)
As I close out this series of 23 Trends for 2023, I’ve been thinking long and hard as to what the final, all-encompassing trend should be; to be honest, I’ve had several. But they’ve all had a common theme - all of us finally have the chance to look forward to what’s next , rather than just concentrating right now on what we need to do to get through. In a conference call with a client the other day, I was given a gift when he mentioned that in his mind, they weres finally able to move away from triage - fast, quick steps to simply survive - to thinking about their future again. That’s it!
My last 3 events before Covid were firmly linked to the opportunities of the future. The American Truck Dealers Association brought me in for a keynote that took at the electrification of their industry, the arrival of hyper-connected trucking technology, and the potential for autonomous technology. Syngenta, the global agricultural company, had me in for a talk to key dealers on how farmers were aligned to fast-moving science trends with fast genomics, autonomy, the potential world of 24-hour farming, and more. The Canadian Golf Superintendents Association - my very last in-person event in March 2020 - took a look at the future of the golf industry, some of the new technologies, concepts, and ideas coming into the game, and how that might influence their work.
40% of the big car makers of today won’t exist by 2030, because they weren’t able to make the shift to technology-focused electric vehicle technology
From “Daily Inspiration: Innovation - “When they tell you your idea is too crazy … double down on your crazy!”” (October 2022)
It was this - one day in the future, we would have optical chips and routers and networks that would do crazy things with light photonics - perhaps even stopping light in its tracks. The result would be that we would be able to build networks and chips and technology that could hold vast quantities of information - perhaps we could place the entirety of the Internet on a chip!
There was nothing crazy about what I proposed; indeed, this was the focus of an entire chapter in a book I wrote with my co-author in 1999, ” Light Bulbs to Yottabits: How to Profit By Understanding the Internet of the Future. ”
Fast forward a few years. In 2006, I was the opening keynote speaker for a conference of telecom and cable engineers. I had about 3,000 of them in the room. One of the trends I outlined was that we would see accelerating innovation in terms of bandwidth capacities, particularly as we innovated in terms of optical fiber technology. I suggested to them, for example, that one day soon we would build a router that would stop light in its tracks, examine its packets, and in doing so, see innovative opportunities that would lead to massive increases in accelerated bandwidth. I then spun a story of a world of excess bandwidth - and that perhaps, one day, we might have a chip that would fit the entirety of the Internet in its circuits.
Read the full pieces on jimcarroll.com:
People Will Always Laugh At Your Crazy Ideas: They Are Usually Wrong!
Daily Inspiration: “It’s time to move from triage to tomorrow!”
Daily Inspiration: Innovation - “When they tell you your idea is too crazy … double down on your crazy!”