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Ask HN: What could be the next technology boom like bitcoin?

14 points by PetoU ↗ HN
Bitcoin is here around 4 years. Would you expect it to explode in value 3 years ago ? Potentially. I assume, that next technologies which will boom in next years are already here, in its infancy. What do you suggest it might be ?

14 comments

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rdl
Genuinely trustworthy computers (servers and clients). Still probably 5 years away. Bitcoin, NSA, etc. shows why they're needed, and we sort of know how to build them, but it's seriously difficult, and involves lots of moving parts up and down the whole stack from supply chains and designs to silicon fabs to physical packaging to firmware to OS to apps to network protocols to user interfaces.
mckee1
I'm going to have to say wearable tech, even if it is becoming a bit cliche. Not necessarily products like Google Glass, but there are plenty of applications that can massively improve the users life, or help save it. In hospitals and old people's homes for example, watches that monitor heart rates, necklaces to check vital signs etc. I'm no Doctor but I imagine a way to constantly monitor the condition of a potentially at risk person without them having to lie in bed hooked up to a huge machine will be pretty useful.
malandrew
I've been looking forward to this. I can't wait until many lab tests are unnecessary because we have our own continuous medical monitoring occurring all the time.
adrianwaj
bitmessage as a complimentary product to cryptocurrency (cryptomessaging).
yread
ubiquitous 3D printing with Bret-Victor-esque 3D designing software?
zachlatta
I'm also a huge believer in P2P learning. I believe that it has very interesting implications both online and off. I'm hoping that a nonprofit (like Khan Academy) will pave the way for future ventures in this space.
phektus
A 3d printer for food. Now that would be disruptive.
[dead] question612
i also Think that none of the guests on this planet is able to survive without food. pure existential... 20 years to go, to get a food printer in each kitchen maybe with an subscription service for the cartridges and extra "recipes" modell.
kushti
-drone industry -p2p investments/brokerages/knowledge bases/etc. p2p is still not much developed area with many promising things it could provide -fighting with corporations/governments spying
crisnoble
Renewable energy storage and electric vehicles. If enough people adopt electric only vehicles that could provide a mechanism to store and send energy to the existing grid.
adventured
Virtual reality is going to boom over the rest of this decade. The gaming industry will drive it into the consumer space over the next few years, to wide adoption. That'll dramatically increase the money being put toward the industry, leading to an ever faster cycle of improvement.

Hollywood will follow the gaming industry on this technology wise. I'd predict that within 10 to 15 years, we'll see movies attempting to build out virtual reality experiences in theaters. For $30, they'll put you into an immersive VR version of the Avengers sequel that exists at the time.

laglad
Agreed. Do you think this boom will happen in developed or developing markets?
soneca
I would say developed. Innovation demands people having some time, some money and some ambition to create new things.

Hard to know, but i think the next big thing always come from USA, Europe or Japan. The only exception is China that create their own big things.

chatmasta
From my "big ideas" evernote:

- drones - They will be like servers for the physical world. Business opportunity is "ec2 for drones" -- drones as a service, rent by the hour, remote controlled from a web interface, programmable with API. - bitcoin - privacy - transparency - online household (IoT) - brain-computer interfaces