Microsoft has an interesting video envisioning our interactions with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in 10 years.  A short version as well as the five minute version can be found online at http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090228/microsoft-office-labs-vision-2019-video/.  I found the five minute version well worth the time.

The tag at the very end of the video stated “productivity”. But what impressed me so much more was relationships. Technology is presented as ubiquitous, but in a way that compliments our interactions with other people and things as opposed to disrupting it.  Our ability to interact with those immediately around us is enhanced as we can quickly share information and even be assisted with translations. Our ability to interact with those at a distance is enhanced; what a great example with the two youth drawing from two different sides of a board, learning about each others culture and language.

Our ability to interact with the environment is enhanced, allowing us to not only work outdoors but gain new abilities to rapidly identify, and hopefully gain new appreciations of the plants and species around us.

What a fantastic example of the most important productivity of all: building relationships!