Top Inventions of 2008

Must read article with loads of goodness:
Michael S. Hart, The Top Inventions of 2008, Global Politician, January 3, 2008. Hart is the founder of Project Gutenberg.
Read the entire article for more, but here are some tantalizing tidbits:
What will be the top inventions in 2008?
1. Inexpensive Terabytes and USB 3.0
Cool – never needing to delete anything! Easy backups! Virtually unlimited storage.
2. Virtual Reference Service
Can we go global? “The world could be a much better place for it.”
3. Virtual Libraries [Taken One At A Time]
“By the end of 2008 the Project Gutenberg Library will be as large — or larger– than the average United States Public Library.”
There are now 30,000+ volumes originating from Project Gutenberg plus over 75,000 donated via eLibraries around the world.
Hart predicts that whole virtual libraries – 30,000 books of a million characters each – will be able to be worn on keychains, necklaces, bracelets, etc.
These small text files also work very will with compression program varieties such as .zip files, that allow 5 books to be stored in an alternate .zip file in the space 2 books took previously.
“2008 will see 12 gigabyte USB flash drives for under $100. $100 to carry every word in 30,000 books. . . . In less space and weight than your average wristwatch.
4. Virtual Libraries [Taken As A Whole]
There are only a few dozen physical libraries in the world with more than 7 million books. Perhaps by the end of 2008, there are going to be 7 million eBooks in the world
5. “The Information Age? For Whom?!?” “A New Digital Divide?”
“This is one of the major Information Science issues of 2008. ”
Of course, there the whole library perspective and the context driven perspective – whole curricula on a keychain… Shift happens.
Stephen