It's So Hard To Stay Ahead of The Game

I turned on the TV this morning. Helicopters were flying overhead and I wanted to know what it was all about. Instead I saw a clip about the fact that Barack Obama is going to be visiting Google today and it's expected for him to discuss his plans to name a Chief Technology Officer (See here on VentureBeat.)

I signed a deep sigh. Is nothing sacred? See, I'm writing a book in which I refer to the Secretary for the Department of Technology. It sounds so much more authoritative don't you think?

Anyway, my point is that it's very difficult to stay ahead of the game in science fiction particularly when it comes to technology. We are at a tipping point where things are moving so fast that it's hard to predict the future. One piece of evidence of this is that the announcment is connected to his visit to Google, a company that has been around for less than 10 years rather than at Microsoft or Apple which were once considered the hip and happening software companies. And let's face it, at one time great-grand-daddy IBM would have been the place to make this kind of announcement.

(On a separate topic, I just noticed on Microsoft's website that the company is turning 30 this year. Remember the phrase: "You can't trust anyone over 30." Well I guess it still holds true, unless that particular company makes products that start with an 'i.')

So 20 years from now, what role will the government be playing in technology?