The world in 2050 will be exactly like the world I knew in 1979. This was the year I entered the university at age15 years and nine months. There was the feeling of great optimism, beautiful surroundings, a coming of age - the age of possibilities. There were VCR's, Refrigerators, TV's, washing machines, and cars, telephones, telecommunication networks and computers. So will there be in 2050.

But too soon, it falls into its exact orbit into the past

Undoubtedly, most of these 'staples' will be bent to accommodate our needs real, prescribed or both as they have some twenty-one years later in 2000. We have the cellular phone, the Personal computer, Video compact discs and the rest of real-time on-line technologies.

The world in 2050 will be more responsible and beautiful. Contention between religions will reduce. Africans will be more responsible about their affairs but this will not immediately transform into wealth and contentment. People will however no longer blame government or the authorities for the scarcity of resources but will work to reduce the over dependence on manufactured goods. This mainly because government will become more representative of the people. People will readily risk their lives to ensure that NEVER AGAIN truly means never again.

Traditional twentieth century industries such as the petroleum industry will be displaced to the fringes. As the oil reserves of the third world countries deplete, the price of petroleum products will make them exclusively for the rich only. Life patterns will change - rather like those of migratory birds.

Power generation becomes the biggest manufactured good and drives of the next technological wave. Waterpower is harnessed as never before. This will lead to environmental and national conflicts.

Like the great burst of creativity associated with software programming, the competition for the next Bill Gates will be in the arena of converting motion related to mankind's wanderlust to electricity. For instance the few cars that remain the third world and all of the cars in the developed world will vital mechanical prime motion to the generator rotors of the world. To put it simply, the kinetic and potential energies of moving vehicles, and people (why not) will be converted to electrical power.

How?

One method will be to integrate platform on roads – lets call them kinetic pads, very similar in design to speed breakers – different in that they may be gently pushed down - by the wheels of the vehicles (or people) travelling on them and are able to quickly recover from this in order to be depressed again – an again.

This reciprocating motion may be converted to useful energy by a variety of means. One of which will be connecting the rubber encapsulated kinetic pad to a crankshaft. Such that the motion occasioned by the depressing of the kinetic pad is converted to rotary motion.

We may then connected to the crankshaft via a flexible mechanical coupling a shaft bearing concentrated windings. From experience, I recommend not less than six poles. Around this shall be our multi phase distributed windings. Using synchroscopes, the output of several such generators may be combined.

The generation of power by the motion of automobile on its own could form the basis of an exhaustive treatise on making waste work.

Whereas using the motion of automobiles to generate power for the massive suction motors may help in minimising the amount of pollutants in the air, another idea would be to utilise the potential energy of hundreds of millions of cars all over the world in generating electricity for national grids around the world. What’s more electricity generated by the strategic placements of the so-called kinetic pads may be tied together to form a global electricity superhighway.

Designed from the scratch to be global, short-term benefits will include jobs creation: as tens of thousands of kilometres of copper or aluminium cables will have to be produced. Such an arrangement will require transformers. New techniques and materials will be developed to enable subsea high power transformers. These high power transformers will have to be modular in design in addition to being installed in ‘Hot stand-by’ mode such that a faulty unit may be unplugged and replaced with minimum manoeuvre or disruption to power supply.

A whole new service industry will emerge. Long term benefits will be:

One: The abundance of electricity globally – will reduce he use of fire wood, coal and other non-friendly sources of heating /cooking in the developing world,

Two: Utilising the enormous amount of power locked up in the ‘wasted’ motion of automobiles may lead to the redundancy of all but the cleanest power sources.

Due to the high cost of petroleum products, a direct consequence of depleted reserves and environmental tarrif on the use of automobiles, the automobile as is known today will die. Mass transit methods will become prevalent in the countries known today as the third world countries.

More people will roam the seas - permanently as the myriad possibilities and sheer joy of an untethered life becomes more attractive compared with living on terra firma. The ocean will very truly become the next frontier as men rediscover new sources of food and their very own selves. Knowledge for its own sake will become more prevalent. Subsistence farming will bloom as people realise the importance of employing their time for their very own good.

The Bushman of the Kalahari will become an avatar of sorts the wisdom of his austere life becoming manifest. Others try to learn from him the balance between responding to our environment by living a natural unspoiled life, and responding to that which has been created by Homo sapiens. From which there seems no alternative rather a resignation to our fate as partakers (albeit reluctantly) of the despoliation of our planet.

Advances in sociology and philosophy will argue for people to become citizens of countries other than those of their birth.

The ability to cause war becomes easier in 2050. Rather like miscreants turning a signpost the wrong way, people have the ability to cause mass confusion by merely re-addressing or bringing down the portals and gateways of the information age. Wars will still be fought over perceived slights as civilisations and cultures believe they have all earned the right to be respected.

Technology companies will continue to spread but with single point responsibility for the provision of and maintenance of all utility services (Internet services included) as people grudging tolerate it.