Just five years ago, the world was very different. In 2010, the iPad made its debut, Kickstarter introduced a new form of venture capitalism that would change the way we raise funds, and Square let merchants of all sizes accept payments with the tap of a card on a mobile device.
The next five years will surely see the emergence of products we haven't even imagined! But as we move forward, what will we leave behind? Below are some things we use today that will likely die out and be replaced by new innovations, technologies, and methods.
Cash, checkbooks, credit cards and ATMs
Today, Square allows any business to accept debit or credit cards. Venmo lets you share dinner with a friend by transferring money with a text message. Soon you’ll be able to do all your banking from any mobile device, even from your car. In the U.S., check usage fell 57% from 2000 to 2012.
94% of consumers under 35 do their transactions online and most have never signed a check. In Europe if you go to sign a check they will look at you like you are crazy!
And one last thing: in the future there will be no cash, so goodbye ATMs!
USB sticks
By 2020, 70% of the world will be using smartphones, according to a report by Ericsson. With all the cloud services offering almost unlimited storage, there will be little need for storage devices. Not to mention the increase in standard mobile storage.
Event organizers around the world will have to find another way to reward participants since USBs will be a thing of the past.
More secure and easy access: Passwords will be gone!
This will be tough since passwords are so widely used today. The average person is said to have 19 passwords, and nearly half admit to using insecure, weak passwords. But even the strongest passwords can be cracked.
Biometrics have already become mainstream, especially on mobile. Fingerprints, voice, and facial recognition will replace your dog's name and your wedding anniversary. These will have their own risks, of course, but passwords will disappear.
Similarly, soon you won't have physical keys to lose. Your key will be one of your mobile devices that will be connected to your biometrics and only you will be able to operate them.
Something no one will miss: the remote control!
You will no longer have to search your entire house, throwing away the sofa cushions to find the remote control.
Research firm Strategy Analytics predicts that the emerging categories of the Internet of Things, smart home, and wearables will connect an additional 17.6 billion devices by 2020. With so many devices connected to the Internet, building additional hardware for remote controls won't make sense.
Documents and written agreements
Written signatures and the entire written process are quickly becoming outdated in today's digital world. In the future, we will rely on "cloud agreements" for any transaction.
Soon contract management will never be the same!
