Look back over the past twenty years and the technological advances that have occurred. We’ve all seen the impact the computer has had on the sign industry as well as other industries. What new advances do you see coming in the next ten years? What do you dream about that will make your life easier?
Will there come a day when people will no longer be slaves to labor? Imagine machines doing everything for us and nobody wanting or needing for the basic necessities in life like food and shelter? What predictions can you make now with certainty?
Personally I’m waiting for the SkyCar but I doubt I will see it in my lifetime. Check this baby out! Moller International SkyCar
Go ahead dream big!
Posted by Bill Cosharek (Member # 1274) on :
Yea Bob, can you imagine the engineering involved in constructing pylon signs & billboards to reach way up there & be windload safe? How many 4x4s will have to be splined together to display real estate signs & other stuff like that? Of course the skycar will assist you with the high installations. Ladders will be obsolete.
Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
The styling of that skycar impressed me enough to buy the Popular Mechanics (or similar magazine) on which it appeared on the cover quite a number of years ago. I didn't keep the magazine or article but the cover picture is still in my morgue somewhere. I hadn't heard of it since.
Imagine the red tape and regulations that invention is going to create!
That's progress!
-dan
Posted by Jeff Ogden (Member # 3184) on :
Bob..
I can see a market for projected signs and holigrams. No paint, no substrate, just images floating out there. And you might get into some laser border lights instead of neon...no glass to break, no shorts, just colored light. And of course, lots of fiber optics to play with. And Signfoam VIII will be clear, and people will be lighting carved and routed stuff from within. Posted by Bob Stephens (Member # 858) on :
There you go Jeff. These are the kind of ideas I am interested in hearing about. Stuff thats not here in reality but in the minds of the great thinkers and risk takers.
What are the next generation cell phones going to be capable of after being able to take and send pictures?
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jeff Ogden: Bob..
And Signfoam VIII will be clear, and people will be lighting carved and routed stuff from within.
It's called acrylic, a 1" 4x8 is already cheaper than SignFoam and thanks to laser CNC's and LED's, it's already being "carved" in 3D (with photographic results) and lit up. Posted by Steve Nuttle (Member # 2645) on :
quote:Will there come a day when people will no longer be slaves to labor?
This is exactly what is wrong with our society today IMHO. When we moved from an agricultural society to an industiral society, we lost it. People today already have too much time on their hands. That is why they dream up all these B.s.ideas. It's the old saying, "Idle hands are the devils workshop." I for one would rather be a slave to labor. Hard work never killed any one!!!
Posted by cheryl nordby (Member # 1100) on :
Yeah I envision the world going back to natural. Where we make and use our own compost, stop using pesticides, and grow our own food. Our cars will run on a cleaner fuel. That skycar is cool!!
But about signs....I also see lighted laser type signs. They already have billboards that change according to what radio station you listen to or something.......?
Posted by John Lennig (Member # 2455) on :
Steve, I agree!!
It's always, "bigger, faster, blah, blah" We build them cause we can, it's what makes our ever diminishing planet suffer even more.
btw, "Hard work never killed anybody," .... In my High School Annual....my quote was.."Hard work never hurt anybody"
But, people have been "worked to death", worn out, etc. But how many "New Improvements are really that worthwhile, except to those that make them, sell them??
Listen to your favourite Radio station for the latest SkyJam!! Congestion over the Eastern Seaboard, it's rain' people!!!
John Lennig / SignRider
Posted by Sonny Franks (Member # 588) on :
Not sign-related, but cloned body replacement parts are probably on the horizon: A world full of virtual Frankensteins.
Posted by John Martin Robson (Member # 1686) on :
Progress & technology has not necessarily reduced our workload, in fact, it has probably increased it with the progression of every revolution right from agricultural, industrial & technological.
I have heard it once said that the average hunter/gatherer probably only worked (foraging/hunting) 20 hours a week.
Now consider he/she probably slept 48 hours in a week, that would leave 100 hours left for such things as, sex ( 35 min a week), eating and arts & crafts………………that’s why we progressed, we had too much damn time on our hands. Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
I envision a coating for our future transportation, that will consist of electronic molecules that with a computer or some sort plugged in be changed to what ever color you want.
That would be great for auto manufactureres, all vehicles would be the same color ( clear) from the factory, the dealer would change the color at the time of sale.
This would also be tied into vehice lettering, we could digitally enhace the doors or any panel for that matter, and rechange as seen fit.
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
How about the complete elimination of all billboard structures and replacing them with a gossamer type screen supported only by high pressure jets of air. These screens would be surfaced with ultra-light reflective crystals, and the messages and/or images would be projected onto these giant screens. Changing them would be as simple as using a remote control slide projector, but these images would be holograms, and appear to be 3 dimensional, and much larger than life-size.
When not in use, these screens could be lowered by the gradual reduction in air pressure, and be stored away on a motorized spool or reel for storage.
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