The Future Of Technology

The definitive guide to how technology is developing and changing.

From the industrial revolution to the railway age, through the era of electrification, the advent of mass production and finally to the information age, the same pattern keeps repeating itself. An exciting, vibrant phase of innovation and financial speculation is followed by a crash, after which begins a longer, more stately period during which the technology is actually deployed properly.

This book examines what has been described as the post-technology era, drawing on the best writing on technology that has appeared in The Economist.

Part one looks at topics such as the 'greying' (maturing) of IT, the growing importance of security, the rise of outsourcing and the challenge of complexity, all of which have more to do with implementation than innovation.

Part two looks at the shift from corporate computing towards consumer technology whereby new technologies now appear first in consumer gadgets such as mobile phones. Topics covered will include the emergence of the mobile phone as the digital 'Swiss Army' knife; the rise of digital cameras, which now outsell film-based ones; the growing size and importance of the games industry and its ever-closer links with other more traditional parts of the entertainment industry; and the social impact of technologies such as text messaging, Wi-Fi and camera phones.

Part three considers which technology will lead the next great phase of technological disruption and focuses biotechnology, energy technology and nanotechnology.