Welcome to the final regular thread of 2022!
Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.
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Notes -
3D printers are really a mature consumer tech now, there's a wide variety available, using a wide variety of materials, and you can do both cool/entertaining and useful things with them.
Ditto for quadcopter drones. Adolescent me would have been giddy with joy if I had these things available back then.
I think you're used to having larger paradigm shifts all at once (VHS => DVD => Blu-Ray => 4k streaming) every few years, so after you've already upgraded to a smartphone, having to occasionally buy a new one that still uses the same form factor may feel underwhelming in spite of all the tech wizardry they are currently cramming into them.
I myself only upgrade my phone approximately every three years and I never buy the top of the line model but it's enough that I'm usually impressed with the improvements in the new one, since from my perspective It's a large jump all at once (see above) rather than gradual iteration where I can see all the intermediate steps.
People have mentioned VR, but I'm more interested in AR, where graphical overlays over the real world will enhance your daily experience. Google glass 5.0, one hopes.
The current crop of image generation AI's are already amazing, and we're still in the early stages of exploring their applications.
I'm optimistic about where electric vehicles are going.
And I'm REALLY excited as to where the space/rocket industry will be in a year, although that's not something the average consumer can participate in directly. If/When Starship is finally operational I think we're going to see a new 'space race' to commercialize Low Earth Orbit and beyond.
Also, 3D printed rockets are a thing. Which is cool as FUCK.
Look at the current state of Machine Learning/AI and the swath of early-stage products available to consumers and you might feel this way. The amount of power this gives to an individual to create things without having to pay outsiders/experts and with relatively minimal funding is as-yet underappreciated.
All that said, I'm becoming a bit numb to the newest wave of consumer electronics since I've got a long enough experience with them to know that most of it isn't going to drastically improve your life and it's really not worth the money to be constantly keeping up with the bleeding edge. So I'm more than content to let certain trends or new devices pass by and not get too excited over new promised capabilities.
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