I have just watched this video provided by Microsoft:
Here is what I think about it:
The appliances seem very attractive because of their highly interactive options and futuristic design. It looks like everything will be at everyone's fingertips just like in Sci-fi movies. I reckon they would also provide excellent tools to communicate more efficiently and raise productivity in teamwork, regardless of distance.
In the travel and hospitality industries, travellers will feel much more comfortable even in cities where they set foot for the first time. Hotel guests and their habits/requests will be well known even prior to their arrival, which represents a considerable time saver, and everything will just be a lot smoother than nowadays.
However, it is probable that the number of "real" humans that the client will meet will decrease, thus risking isolating the individuals. Indeed, the shown applications have been designed to give us ability to feel closer to one another, but they might just do the opposite by making us all the more dependant on the comfort that they provide. The customer's interaction with the staff might plainly disappear (i.e. the black recepionist really does not have much to do apart from carrying the client's luggage, since check in and requests are already done).
I thus have to ask myself where will all the employees go, once their jobs will have been replaced by machine-sounding voices and screens. In this futuristic wolrd (only supposed to be 8 years ahead from now), what will become of all the people who won't get to be engineers or business travellers (etc)?
Finally, this technology would probably end up widening the gap between the higher earners and the rest of the population who wouldn't be able to afford it, as well as between developped and under-developped countries (which would perhaps not be the same as today!).
P.S. : these Microsoft technologies seem to have, once again, been "inspired" a lot by Apple's ideas!
In the travel and hospitality industries, travellers will feel much more comfortable even in cities where they set foot for the first time. Hotel guests and their habits/requests will be well known even prior to their arrival, which represents a considerable time saver, and everything will just be a lot smoother than nowadays.
However, it is probable that the number of "real" humans that the client will meet will decrease, thus risking isolating the individuals. Indeed, the shown applications have been designed to give us ability to feel closer to one another, but they might just do the opposite by making us all the more dependant on the comfort that they provide. The customer's interaction with the staff might plainly disappear (i.e. the black recepionist really does not have much to do apart from carrying the client's luggage, since check in and requests are already done).
I thus have to ask myself where will all the employees go, once their jobs will have been replaced by machine-sounding voices and screens. In this futuristic wolrd (only supposed to be 8 years ahead from now), what will become of all the people who won't get to be engineers or business travellers (etc)?
Finally, this technology would probably end up widening the gap between the higher earners and the rest of the population who wouldn't be able to afford it, as well as between developped and under-developped countries (which would perhaps not be the same as today!).
P.S. : these Microsoft technologies seem to have, once again, been "inspired" a lot by Apple's ideas!
Definitely Apple inspired!!!
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