| Based on where I'm living now (the UK): Brexit will probably be pretty rough on society, though it won't be quite the disaster some people think it'll be. Think less 'mass starvation/riots/panic' and more 'bad tax deals and export limits when it comes to dealing with the EU' (plus maybe a few legal issues when UK and EU law inevitably differ). Facebook may not weather the storm. Twitter and Reddit are probably gonna go the same way as Digg and Myspace too. Lootboxes are going to cause all kinds of legal changes related to the gaming industry, and likely some large fines for companies involved. Certain games with them will probably be discontinued in many regions. Social media sites will get even more crap for their privacy violations, and the lawsuits and fines are probably coming there too. Also, all those sites 'complying' with GDPR by offering a banner that says 'accept all cookies or get lost' are probably in for a nasty surprise. I have no idea what web design/development trends will come about, but part of me thinks flat design could be here for a while now. Authoritarianism and far right/far left politics will continue to rise, as existing parties obliviously ignore the issues that led to it. Chances of war are mixed though; don't suspect a World War 3 is anywhere on the horizon. Trump will be outright moderate compared to some of the people elected in the next ten years. Criminals and extremist nutcases will figure out that cyber security + the internet of things + other technology is a recipe for disaster, and exploit it to all hell. The results will probably mean far more government scrutinty over security holes in tech products. Self driving cars will not take over. Human drivers will also not get replaced. No politician or political party would risk electoral suicide by doing anything there. AI won't change much. It's coming, but it's just not there yet to lead to any Jetsons style sci-fi future or what not. VR will get a bit less niche, but AR may catch on a bit more. The applications for that have been advertised a lot better with stuff like Pokemon GO, Snapchat/Instagram/whatever filters, the Nintendo 3DS, etc. There's a decent chance the UK railways will be renationalised, since Labour keep crowing about the idea. If so, there's also a decent chance they may realise said chance has its downsides as well as upsides. Wages for software engineering will probably decline a bit, as more people enter the field in hopes of Silicon Valley style lifestyles. Eventually, it could go from doctor/lawyer level salaries to something closer to office worker ones. And that's about all I can think of right now. Edit: Oh, and it's possible high costs of living will make marriages and relationships a necessity for many younger people now. Maybe we may even see the social status there flipped, with those who don't need to marry/live with someone else getting more respect than those who do. |