Predictions for 2006 and Beyond

The future is so bright, you will need a flashlight to see it. The future outlook doesn't look too bright anywhere in the world. It seems that we are running out of a critical resource that drives all the world economies and that is oil (no new news here).

I really believe their might be bright futures in other forms of energy production. I also see continued growth and advancements in consumer electronic products.

Below is a break down of my of what I see happening to following industries:

Technology:

• The once powerful gaming industry will start to slow down. Although if you read this Google News page, you might think different. Personally I don't believe that it can keep the momentum it has had over the last several years.
  
• PC industry maybe slowing (or its just Dell), and processor companies will continue to confuse customers with their new branding? (I am really begin to miss the days of Ghz ratings, at least you knew what you were buying)
  
• Computer attacks (virus, worms, exploits, etc.) will continue to increase and grow in sophistication.
• The music and movie industry will continue to publish garbage, and then blame pirates for their profits.
• As consumer audio/video equipment becomes more sophisticated, there will be a lot of confusion among consumers about what hardware to buy. There are several competing hardware standards (i.e.: HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray) right now, and its only going to get worse. People want to buy technology and want it to work well. They don't want to be forced to choose a standard that might not be supported in a few years.
  

Energy:

• We should have put more money into alternative energies after the 1970/1980s energy crisis. We would be much farther a long in finding alternative forms of fuel to power our vehicles and industries.
  
• Oil rich countries will use their resources for political purposes.
• There should be an increase need for nuclear power production. This might scare a lot of people, but right now it might be one of our best alternatives.
  
• There should be an increase spending public transportation and ride sharing programs.
  
• There should be increase spending on alternative energy production.

World (generally more of the same...)

• The environment: more natural disasters to come.
• The older population will continue to rise, and the birth rates will continue to fall in most modern industrialized countries.
• The population will continue to increase in poorer countries, causing increased war, disease, and shortages of food and other resources.