[Sigi_BC84]

helene_t, on Jul 1 2006, 06:50 PM, said:

I predict that Cantonese will become the most popular foreign language next to English in most European countries.

That is a rational prediction based on the assumption that China will be a very profitable and important market. However, since so many Europeans are struggling even with English as a foreign language, I don't see how, realistically, Chinese (could it be any more foreign?) could become a wide-spread option.

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I predict that Microsoft will give up on Windows and make trillions of bugs of profits on web-services for the Linux-addicted consumer base.

At the moment, they're showing not much signs of doing so. A few years ago, a lot of development was happening on Internet Explorer. They even provided their own solutions to develop dynamic web sites. It was all abandoned and IE didn't see any major improvements for a long time now.

I personally think they will not give up on Windows and their accompanying proprietary solutions. The problem with web-services from Microsofts perspective is that they cannot lock in their customers anymore in such a scenario. You've already given one of the biggest problems they would be having when you mentioned Linux: if they supported web-based applications, they would commoditize the operating system market. People would not depend any more on a specific operating system, and one of their major cash cows, Windows, would lose importance.

That's why all of their competitors support alternative technologies such as Linux and Java: if they can commoditize the OS market, operating systems will become cheaper and a lot more money will be available to spend on hardware (companies such as IBM (supporting Linux) or Sun (Java) are hardware vendors).

It would be extremely irrational for MS to give up on Windows, so I don't see it happening.

--Sigi

[DrTodd13]

I'll predict that thought crime, which is in some cases already effectively illegal, will become explicitly illegal in most countries around the world.

I avoided much easier predictions such as:

1) Israelis and Palestianians will kill each other.
2) <Insert name of famous celebrity> will get divorced.
3) Some new issue will emerge that grabs world attention, causes everyone to fly into a panic and spend a gazillion dollars trying to solve it only to have the issue disappear from the news and therefore from everone's consciousness and later find out there was nothing to worry about in the first place.

[helene_t]

barmar, on Jun 19 2006, 10:17 PM, said:

Rain, on Jun 19 2006, 12:50 PM, said:

I think there'll be major bathroom technology improvements soon.

I've seen reports on really fancy bathroom technology that's available in Japan. Talking toilets, automatic lowering toilet seats, toilets that clean your bottom automatically, etc. The Japanese really like gadgets.

And there was one with a blood presure meter build into the seat, combined with chemical analysis of the p&p. It also had a build-in modem. If necesary, the toilet would automatically call the doctor.

[FrancesHinden]

Rain, on Jun 19 2006, 05:50 PM, said:

1) A temperature setting for shower/bath. Set it to 20 deg and that's the exact temperature your water comes out.

My flat in the Hague has this on both the shower and the bath.
I've also seen it frequently in hotel rooms.

I don't believe this has any sophisticated technology in it at all: the installation instructions must tell you what temperature to set your hot water thermostat to, then the scale on the mixer tap simply combines the correct amount of cold water assuming the hot water is at that temperature.

A cleverer version, which I haven't seen, would be linked to its own temperature sensor in the hot water tank (possibly with a heater as well) and would dynamically mix the water appropriately. But the simple version seems to work pretty well.

My prediction for today: Brazil will not win the 2006 football world cup.

[mike777]

1) Very tiny chip translators will become cheap and plentiful making communication/Chinese more accessible. Perhaps in our clothes before in us?
2) Before 2020 we will all be playing BBO on huge Holograph projection displays in our family rooms.
3) Bridge communication with our partners will still be difficult.

[Rain]

helene_t, on Jul 1 2006, 10:50 AM, said:

I predict that Hirsi Ali will publish a book about her experiences at the American Enterprise Institue.

I predict that Cantonese will become the most popular foreign language next to English in most European countries.

I counter predict that the book's sales will be far eclipsed by Harry Potter.

Cantonese will die out slowly as China exerts its stranglehold and start demanding everyone use Mandarin. So will traditional chinese (its just harder than simplified chinese).

If I'm sufficiently drunk I'd also predict an *official* world language based on English in a few hundered years time.

[luke warm]

mike777, on Jul 3 2006, 07:10 AM, said:

3) Bridge communication with our partners will still be difficult.

roflmao

[cherdano]

All bridge world championships in 2020 will be held in an electronic, cheat-proof playing environment....not

[bid_em_up]

FrancesHinden, on Jul 3 2006, 06:31 AM, said:

My flat in the Hague has this on both the shower and the bath. I've also seen it frequently in hotel rooms.

I don't believe this has any sophisticated technology in it at all: the installation instructions must tell you what temperature to set your hot water thermostat to, then the scale on the mixer tap simply combines the correct amount of cold water assuming the hot water is at that temperature.

A cleverer version, which I haven't seen, would be linked to its own temperature sensor in the hot water tank (possibly with a heater as well) and would dynamically mix the water appropriately. But the simple version seems to work pretty well.

In actuality, these exist that eliminate the need for any hot water tank whatsoever. (Other than to flow the water through, its not used to actually heat the water). They are point of access devices (shower, hot water faucet, etc.) which heat the water instantly for an always on, never ending supply of hot water. For one example, see:

http://www.instanthotshowers.com/

[Winstonm]

Chicago Cubs First Major League Team in History to go 0-162.

[mgoetze]

cherdano, on Jul 3 2006, 05:55 PM, said:

All bridge world championships in 2020 will be held in an electronic, cheat-proof playing environment....not

Actually, there will be no bridge world championships in 2020, since 95% of the players will have died of old age.

[Gerben42]

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Actually, there will be no bridge world championships in 2020, since 95% of the players will have died of old age. 

Well... maybe the USA won't participate but the rest of the world will just go on playing bridge. See you at the 2050 World Championships!

[sceptic]

I predict rainy will start another silly thread

before 2008

[cherdano]

sceptic, on Jul 4 2006, 12:45 PM, said:

I predict rainy will start another silly thread

before 2008

What about Wayne's sexist jokes?

[sceptic]

Moi?

[Codo]

I predict that in 10.000 years men will still live at this planet and it will be much more comfortable then now.
But some would still fear, that the end of all days for mankind is near.
And the knowledge of the world will still increase in a unbelievable speed.

I believe too, that brain-cotrolled computers will be working within the next 10 years and be on the market in at most 20 years.

I predict, that the Soccer world cup this year will be won by the host.

[Rain]

Dell now has a 20" laptop.
http://www.dell.com/content/products/featu...s=19&l=en&s=dhs

I got to thinking after gawking a while, that the future is not these giant, super heavy laptops. Nor is it foldable or rollable screens.

Probably projection screens, just like current projection TV. Technology is mostly there. I'd say this will happen in 3 years, but be mass marketed in 10(?)

[cherdano]

I predict we will soon have multiple Junior World Champion among our retired forum contributors...

[Al_U_Card]

I predict that my company will finally change our non-compliant Y2K computer system for one that is compliant when the IS manager (and creator of the system) dies. If only because no one else will want to come in at 12:01 am to redate the files.........OMG

[Al_U_Card]

I predict that we will all learn chinese just in time to have to learn Portugese.