My wish list mashup for few technological improvements that could make some currently existing products better for all of us:

- Silent microwave ovens that also give you a choice of sounds, like a voice which would politely inform you that, “Your popcorn is now ready” at the end of the cycle, instead of that loud, nerve shattering, BEEEEP!

- Self cleaning coffee machines that require no more than the touch of a button and feature enclosed repositories for the white vinegar and water, to begin the cleaning process.  Just refill and leave for the next time.  This may already exist, but I haven’t found one.  If you happen to know where to get one, please let me know.

- Power saws, power generators, air conditioners, power drills, snow blowers, lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners and sanders, (items containing motors in general) that quietly hiss instead of making such a godawful racket.  It would be so much nicer if you could still hear yourself talking on the cell when you walk past road works, or a big truck with its engine idling.

- A super deluxe, self-contained, customizable computer geek chair, consisting of an ergonomic office chair with good back support, arm, head and foot rests.  The chair shouldn’t cost an absolute fortune and should come with a rotating laptop table and keyboard tray and at least one removable stand for a flat screen monitor, all-in-one printer and speakers.  It needs to have a hard-drive shelf and CPU shelf with safety harnesses and disk storage repository.  An iPod dock and cellphone/PDA charger, is mandatory.  Oh, and don’t forget a cup holder and optional icebox for the hardcore geeks and gamers.

- A well designed, sleek, multi-touch surface office desk that connects wirelessly to your laptop and your home and/or office network, and additional monitor(s) if necessary.  It should not be bulky and should feature a combination of the most popular operating systems including Mac, Windows and Linux, etc., with an easy switching system as standard.  It should also include a soft stylus for artwork, handwriting recognition, voice recognition mode is a must. 

Of course the desk would have to be comprised of an LED high resolution backlit screen, high quality graphics card, all the ports you should ever need, including USB, USB 2.0, firewire, peripherals and flash memory slot, 2 CD/DVD/Blu-ray superdrives and a truck load of memory and storage space.  In addition to the full size QWERTY keyboard display you should be able to bring up a 61-key keyboard controller display for your music programs and the function keys should include a single touch VOIP key that can be easily programmed to connect to Skype and so on—it would bring up a drop-down list if you use more than one VOIP system.  If necessary, you can program a similar one-key control function for your favorite networks, email apps etc.

I got a bit carried away with that one… but there should also be an alternative version of the desk surface, that comes with the ability to tilt, like an architect desk/drafting table. It would give you a professional work surface that also looks cool and futuristic while reducing clutter.

Everything should consist of recycled/recyclable parts, have the smallest carbon footprint possible and a portion of the profits from the sales should go to causes that aid the environment and education, especially, computer learning programs in low income areas.

These are just some of the things on my near future tech wish list.  What’s on yours?

And the world goes on, rolling into a new year with the same old fears and battles and stale love affairs… Do we learn anything, change anything, ask for forgiveness, offer forgiveness, alter our attitudes?  Perhaps, perhaps not… Another year to contemplate possibilities, or to miss opportunities, to reinvigorate our egomaniacal behaviors, or to grab at a thread of redemption… Whatever we choose, we should consider the consequences…

We endure this cyclical existence, but can the cycle be broken?