Where will technology be...

in the next five years? I believe that's a more difficult and profound question than it might have been if posed, say, ten years ago. You see, a decade ago, this type of question would have raised in people a sense of wonder and hopeful expectation for the future. One would look back at the imaginings of your favorite sci fi authors and tv shows and create envision a future with flying cars, servant robots, and where one's color and religion no longer matter for all are equal in the eye of a perfect society.
But no more. Now when we think of the future of technology we think in terms of the loss of boundaries, both personal and societal. With the rapid increase in digital communication, the borders and deliniations of countries and states, and even physical devides, are becoming absolete and irrelevant. Your physical location is no longer an impediment in communicating with, or even working for somebody on the other side of the world. This increase in people's digital reach is already having an effect on the way nations relate with each other. The development of the Euro a few years back is one such example. The whole of continental Europe's economy is now ruled by one single currency. There are talks of taking a similar approach in Americas in the near future.
As for personal boundaries, you can't go a day without hearing about identity theft, copyright infringement, and the misuse of personal information on social networking sites. Everyone is looking for ways to protect their new found virutal identity. This future looks more like Orwell's "1984" than a Saturday morning episode of "The Jetsons."