A portion of the last month was spent searching the Web for sites that dealt with a vision of the future, sites that pertained specifically to kitchens. Unfortunately there are few to be found, at least using the parameters I was using.
I’ve been thinking of the various reasons for this, and also trying to figure out why the Fifties were so full of hope for the future that designers were able to come up with those incredible futuristic styles which are still powerfully attractive four decades later.
This article is about kitchens, however, not about sociology or psychology. I will say that a huge cataclysm such as WWII would certainly give everyone the impression that the worst was over and we could look ahead with confidence to a rosy future. After September 11, I’m not sure that this generation will have the same opportunity.
OK, let’s head off on a shopping trip of the future. A trip which we would be able to take with current technology, but aren’t able to because shopping for food isn’t high on any techies short list of important things to do before lunch.
Our ‘list’ of what we need will be in our PDA (Personal Data Assistant). The PDA will be as omnipresent as your wallet or purse and will contain everything you need to head out for the day. Things such as your driver’s license, your ‘money’, your ID and health information will all be stored in it. Your money will, of course, be a debit system since your pay will be a credit system. No different from a debit card but without all the swipes and password entering. The PDA will be either protected by a retina recognition system which you can use today to protect your own PC.
How will the list be on the PDA? Well, except for impulse purchases, everything you use in your food preparation and in caring for your home will be inventoried using the bar codes, or UPC symbols on each package. Your PDA will know what you bring into your home and you will scan each container when you use it last, just before you recycle the package. Fruits and vegetables may be coded or they may be left as impulse purchases as some of them are seasonal.
When you arrive at the grocery store, you will slip a memory card into the handle of the shopping cart. The handle contains an infra-red sending unit which will check the aisles as you walk for items that the card tells it you need. Each item on the shelf will have an LED (light emitting diode) on the price tag, which will flash until you pick the item up and put it into your cart. Bringing the package across the LED will tell your PDA that you have selected the item, or multiples of it, and that item will be crossed off your list.
Go To Page: 1 2
