Tech Promises That Are Still Undelivered

It isn’t just politicians who aren’t keen on keeping their promises. Every system has flaws and the government certainly tops the list of being extremely flawed yet existent. Nevertheless, they aren’t the only paradox that has betrayed the ones that it was created to help. Just like politics, science too has its fair share of failed promises that really never got fulfilled. Although the world of science fiction certainly makes technology extremely demanding, here are some major fumbles that have prevented various technologies from being perfect.

• Being Paperless

Even when not taking the environmental factors into account, the digital revolution had several promises that would’ve revolutionized our world for good. But all those pledges to make office work entirely paperless, is a pipeline dream. Yes, we have certainly minimized the amount paperwork by using digital solutions for documents, signatures and instant messaging and have phased out physical letters. But digital documents are still not a full-fledged alternative for paperwork. There is still need for a lot of paperwork especially when concerning legal documents that are still accepted in their physical copies.

• Video Conferencing/Calling to Replace Phone Calls

The concept of video conferencing was something that came right out of science fiction. This technology was set to revolutionize conventional phone calls as you would be able to actually see the person you’re talking to. New apps like Google Duo and older services such as skype etc. definitely show potential. But with the lack of adequate data services, this technology is far from being achieved. Even when the working conditions are met, the actual service is far from being as seamless and convenient as they show them in sci-fi movies. There are still phone calls being made and voice messaging is showing far better response and acceptance among worldwide users.

• One-Stop-Messaging Service

Imagine a world where all your emails, messages and digital communications are directed to a single inbox. We’re pretty sure that plenty of you nerds might have thought of the same thing including the ones that work for the likes of Google and Facebook. But in the wake of this competition torn world of internet, this dream might never become a reality. Using just a single app/service for all types of digital communication such as social media, emails, text messaging, video calling, and all types of file sharing. Sadly, this idea of unified communication isn’t really possible and has quite proven to be a cheap sales gimmick, like most ‘As Seen on TV’ products.

• Wireless Technology

Incredibly hyped, wireless communication is certainly the bane of communication technology. Despite the introduction of high speed wireless data services such as 4G, it is still subject to availability and well, wires. No matter how much telecom industry has tried, we’re still far from discovering a viable replacement of wires and cables for a secure and stable data transfer. There are several technologies that have shown some improvement such as Wi-Fi, but the term ‘wireless’ is still very illusive.

• Online Payments

With the digitization of banking services, there were certainly a lot of options that were presented to the users. Such as being able to make monetary transactions through the internet.  While this sounds really amazing and helpful, the lack of online safety and digital frauds have certainly limited its potential. Although people use their credit card frequently when buying things online, physical transaction is still the preferred choice by many across the globe. Why would you keep your money in a digital wallet if it’s still not safe from being stolen? Well, this is certainly a question that technology cannot seem to answer at the moment.

Despite the fact that most of the tech we use cannot be deemed as perfect, the above list shows the huge loopholes that need to be filled before working on newer technologies. Or maybe we need to understand that ‘jumping the guns’ should certainly not be an option, especially when aiming for perfection. So science certainly needs to relax, work on the basics and fulfill those promises to set things right for the future.