June 22, 2004

Forecasting the Boom

The aging of the Baby Boom generation will drive the direction of innovation and entrepreneurialism in the technology sectory, says Red Herring in a fascinating story. (Free reg req.)

Finally, in their desire to stay healthy, elders will view almost all of their consumption choices through the lens of health. Health considerations won't be confined to diet or medical regimens: they'll influence choices in everything from clothing to housing. But because emerging technologies like sensors and smart dust will make it possible to build intelligence and monitoring capabilities into just about everything, it'll be possible for nearly everything to have a health monitoring or maintenance function. Indeed, this is such an important trend, culture historian and author Theodore Roszak predicts that "by the middle of the 21st century, every highly developed industrial society in the world will be a health care economy."