Untethered Authors Speculate on the Next Big Thing In Portable Tech

Hey readers! I wrote a slightly gross, slightly hilarious short story called "Nessa,  Iggy & the Murky Toilet Selfie" for Untethered: A Magic iPhone Anthology. For fun, we are holding a few blogs on technology, iPhones and other interesting tidbits. Please read on to find out what six of the Untethered authors (including yours truly) thought might be the next big thing in technology. 

What Will the Next Big Thing in Technology Be? 

What might be the future of portable technology? In honor of the book release for Untethered: A Magic iPhone Anthology, six authors speculate.
 
Untethered: A Magic iPhone Anthology is a fictional collection of twenty stories about the intersection of magic and tech, so these six authors have given the matter some thought. Many of them want to talk about watches, but have they really given the idea enough thought? You decide.
 
Rhiannon Held: Health monitoring! Most of the functions seem distributed across many different devices at the moment, but some kind of all-in-one thingy that tracks activity, counts calories, monitors vitals, measures hormones, injects medications, calls paramedics... Diabetes and blood sugar and insulin is an obvious use, but what about less obvious ones, like depression and neurotransmitter levels? And I'm sure it would be marketed as the last word in weight loss.
 
C.S. O’Cinneide: Televisions that grow legs and follow you around the house.
 
Jon Lasser: Wearables such as watches seem to be the new thing. I don't think we've seen everything they can do just yet. While the Apple Watch seems to be an excellent fitness and communications device, with secondary use for authentication, I imagine we'll see as-yet-unanticipated ways of using wearables. I think the next frontier is emotional self-regulation: building on fitness functions to help users manage their moods and avoid unpleasant emotions and experiences.
 
At the same time, the rebellion against portable technology is just getting started. Now that smartphones are ubiquitous, I expect more people will avoid them as a sort of cultural marker, signaling their importance by their refusal to engage with the minute-to-minute distractions technology can bring us.
 
Jeremiah Reinmiller: That's an interesting question as usually the next big thing, will be something small. We've already seen smart watches add ease of use features, and Apple recently introduced wireless earbuds so the audio can be always connected. The next logical step would be in the visual components. Google glasses looked interesting, but never made a lot of progress, and if technology has shown us anything, it's that the next jump will be something further than we expect. I think it's going to be some kind of integrated contacts we can wear. If someone figures that out (a way to display phone output wirelessly to contact lenses) they're going to make a lot of money.
 
A. Moritz: The next BIG thing will definitely be watches that can project a screen that can be manipulated by touch. They will be able to show us documents that we've created, pull up bus schedules/movie times/restaurant reviews from the internet...no more digging in your pocket to search on your phone! Anything that happens until then will be small to me ;P
 
H.M. Jones: I’m not all that sure. I’m actually the sort of person who keeps a cheap, breakable phone because I tend to destroy my technology on accident. I sort of hope it’s a hover board. I really want a hover board. I know I’m too old, but…I’m gonna need to see a workable hover board soon.
 
Want to see what these authors did with the concept of a magic iPhone? Pick up your copy of Untethered: a Magic iPhone Anthology in ebook or trade paperback today. Find it at Amazon.com, Nook, or wherever you prefer to grab your books.
 
Extra Interest: Stevehen Warren shares “I have a yellow IPhone 5c. It didn’t really influence [my] story, but it did help in jotting down the rough draft...”

H.M. Jones is the NIEA Finalist and B.R.A.G Medallion honoree of Monochrome, a dark fantasy about the power of memories. 

Her short story "Nessa, Iggy and the Murky Toilet Selfie" is a fun, sardonic romp with a self proclaimed selfie queen. 

When not creating stories, she is taking care of two kids, three chickens and a silly mutt. She enjoys bookstore shopping, cosplaying and drinking tea. 

Visit her at www.hmjones.net, on Facebook H.M. Jones Writes and Twitter (@HMJonesWrites). 

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