It’s a shiny new decade and when you think about everything that happened in the last decade (the smartphone boom, virtual assistants, and Uber just to name a few)…it’s a little mind-boggling to think of what could be ahead. Well, no one can see into the future, but these predictions are pretty cool to think about. Here are a few innovations we may have to look forward to in a new decade.

Some Pretty Cool Things To Look for in the New Decade

A Totally New Kind of Car

When you thought of the year 2020 as a kid, you probably imagined flying cars, similar to the movie The Jetsons. While flying cars have not hit the market yet, a new kind of car has and it’s only going to become more prevalent. 

Electric cars aren’t really as new as you think. In 1832, the first crude electric car was developed and then later in 1901, Thomas Edison worked to build a better battery for the electric car because he believed it far superior than its gas-guzzling counterpart.

Today electric cars are gaining more and more notoriety. So what does the car of the new decade look like? Manufacturers like Tesla are ushering in luxury electric cars that are nearly autonomous. Meaning, they can pretty much drive themselves. Many predict that it will make the roads less congested and safer.

The Future of Cell Phones

If were born circa 1990 or before, you are lucky enough to straddle the fence of two very different societies: one before cell phones and one after. Think about it–our kids and grandkids will only know life with a device in their hands.

As amazing as the advances in cell phones have reached, there is still more to come. 

The world’s first cell phone was released in 1983, was about the size and weight of a brick, and cost around $4K. The battery life was dismal at 35 minutes on a good charge. From there we went from dumb phones to smart phones in only a few decades. Now, anything you can do on a computer, you can do on your phone from anywhere in the world–even on an airplane 35,000 feet in the air.

So how can it get better than that? The Washington Post reports that future smartphones may consist of folding screens, up to nine cameras for even more amazing photos, and will be able to charge over thin air. All we ask for are no more cords and screens that will never crack.

New Social Media

Given that the World Wide Web is still a toddler at around 30 years old, nearly 4.5 billion people or 58% of the world’s population are avid internet users. Of that, nearly 3.7 billion of those are social media users (source). To put it into perspective of the history of the world, the hat’s like going from zero to 80 in a millimeter of a second.

We’ve seen the death of MySpace and the birth of Instagram and now TikTok is making a scene; in short, it’s hard to keep up with the latest cool thing.

So what can we expect in the future of social media?

Well, aside from more memes and new cat videos, you can watch for a few of these new maverick social media platforms trying to make it big.

• TikTok: came out in 2017 but is really snowballing to become the #1 video social site. 
• Caffeine: a live broadcast platform for friends and followers which was unveiled in 2018 and still looking for eyes. 
• Houseparty: the group messaging app that lets you chat with friends face to face.
• Vero: like Instagram but with no ads or algorithms. 

More Robot Cleaners

Dang, we love our robot vacuum, and when the robot mop came out, we practically did cartwheels. The new decade is bound to bring even more robotic cleaners, making our lives easier. Here are some robot friends to look for in 2020 and beyond:

• Robot lawn mowers
• Robotic pool cleaners
• Industrial floor cleaners (the robot janitor)
• Duct-cleaning robots, and
• Window-cleaning robots

Hyper-speed Travel?

Traveling faster than a jet? Could it be possible? Some engineers say, yes, maybe even in the 2020s. Hyperloop is Elon Musk’s futuristic vacuum-sealed travel system. If it ever reaches its full potential, it could mean traveling from city to city and even across the country at a speed of 700 mph — faster than a jet.

So far, the Hyperloop has only reached 288 mph on a test track in California and there are no Hyperloop routes in public yet, but the potential is there. Imagine traveling from coast to coast in just a few hours! 

 

We’re waiting on pins and needles to see what a new decade brings and will be looking to see if these predictions come to pass. (More robot cleaners please!)

The post Some Pretty Cool Things To Look for in the New Decade appeared first on How Does She.

by Nicolette via Home And Garden