As we sit on the cusp of 2024, with the pandemic now well behind us, even though war affects parts of the world, we still live in an era of incredible potential and amazing technologies, so while humanity continues facing ever-greater challenges, I’m always optimistic that the best is yet to come.
With the advances we’ve seen in AI over the past year blowing away all our expectations, 2024 will be the year of even greater AI developments and creations. Pika.art now exists, and it will surely see people making TV shows and movies that may well become smash hits on TVs, streaming services and cinemas by this time next year – if that isn’t too ambitious a time line!
AR, VR, MR and XR glasses will finally reach the next level with the launch of Apple’s Vision Pro in the first quarter of 2024, and while Meta Quest 3 definitely offers big improvements over the Quest 2, Apple’s headset will be the one to truly bring forth the headset revolution we’ve been waiting for.
We’re still waiting on even better battery technologies to go mainstream, with ZapBatt.com’s batteries offering all the benefits of solid state batteries. They can be charged in 20 minutes, can be recharged for decades, and are impervious to the runaway thermal reactions that existing Lithium Ion technologies have been suffering – and we should see ZapBatt batteries in appliances in 2024, too.
Cell phone calls and mobile data from satellites will see more advances in 2024. There have already been tests where data and calls from unmodified Samsung Galaxy smartphones were successfully made, with Starlink also promising the same capabilities soon. By the end of the decade, virtually everywhere on Earth will have connectivity.
Autonomous and electric cars seem perpetually on the cusp of true autonomy, thanks to Elon Musk’s endless promises, but now that Musk has retrained Tesla’s driving system using AI, the promise of truly autonomous driving is finally getting closer than ever.
Robots are another area that will be a lot closer to our sci-fi dreams and expectations within a decade, with today’s tech impressive in its demos (such as those seen by Samsung, Tesla and others), and since last year, we’ve seen Optimus from Tesla make some impressive advances, although how long it will be before they’re home helpers is yet to be seen, even if those “home helpers” have existed as vacuum cleaners for years.
5G is more widely available than ever before, and only getting faster, with talk of 5.5G and plenty of ongoing early talk about 6G out there, along with the impressive advances of the Artemis wireless technology revolution that makes traditional wireless technologies obsolete, even though the industry is trying very hard to keep those now old-fashioned technologies alive, and as mentioned, satellite broadband has exploded in speed and popularity, with much more to come over the course of this decade.
Even the NBN is much more advanced in rolling out ever more fibre direct to people’s homes, delivering 250Mbps, 500Mbps and near 1Gbps speeds, which is great for consumers and businesses – with millions of homes now able to get direct fibre connections if they want it.
Cybercrime and online scams have continued being a dark spot, and while cyber security companies have risen to the challenge, with Cybermindz.org having lanched as the world’s first mental wellness program for cyber security professionals, cybercriminals keep getting ever wilier and sneakier. It has been a case of “if” you’ll be attacked, but when, and how often – with 2023 sadly having demonstrated that in spades.
I know some people who proclaim to have lost faith in humanity, but despite the challenges the world faces today, I see plenty of hope, plenty of potential, and plenty of good out there.
Evil and problems will always exist, but its how we react and adapt as a species – and individually – that makes the difference, so please, never give up, never give up hope, and if you need help – ask for it!
What 2024 will bring is yet to be seen, but I pray the world calms down geopolitically, and focuses on solving problems, and not creating new ones – with more peace, and less war, whether in Europe, the Middle East or anywhere else.
So… as I type this two days before Christmas, may you wholeheartedly enjoy this incredibly special and amazing time, may you hug your loved ones, may you love them and bless them with all that is good.
May God bless us all, and may you have the most amazing Christmas week and let’s hope the New Year 2024 is a true change for the better.
I thank you for being a loyal reader and viewer, and I truly appreciate you and wish you the very best.
Onward and upward, to infinity and beyond, may all your bits and bytes be coursing along at 5G and fibre speeds as 2023 shortly ends, and we enter 2024 refreshed, re-energised and ready for everything the future will bring.
Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
