Amazing Changes in Your Daily Life: The Kiplinger Letter has been warning readers about major developing technologies and how they will affect companies, consumers, and investors for more than 90 years. (See our 90-Year List of the Best Tech Predictions.)
The Letter has helped readers grasp the ramifications of a broad range of technology throughout the years, including aircraft, TVs, and satellites, as well as the Internet, cellphones, and much more.
It’s not simple to predict the future. Kiplinger reporters and editors do extensive research, relying on academic and private-sector expertise. We consult government sources to learn how rules may impact developing technologies. Furthermore, we examine previous and current patterns and use cautious, reasoned judgment to predict and interpret future events.
The slides that follow showcase some incredible breakthroughs that will influence your life in 2030. While several of the suggestions seem to be straight out of science fiction, expect them to become mainstream in the near future.
1. The Grocery Shopping Will Be Handled by Your Fridge
Do you have any milk? In 2030, your refrigerator will keep track of inventories and place orders for goods you’ve ordered for supper tonight. The Internet-connected gadget will feature a chip that will allow it to pay for things without requiring your permission.
2. Your Food Will be Vertically Grown
Most food will appear the same in 2030 as it has in the past, but it will be produced in a very different manner. Growing fruits, vegetables, and grains in structures managed by artificial intelligence, rather than on the horizontal ground, will be all the rage. The meat will be created in a laboratory using stem cells derived from cattle.
Agriculture, pollution, and land-use patterns will all be severely impacted. Nearly a third of the world’s land was utilized to grow crops and raise animals in 2015.
Much of the arable land will have returned to its original form by 2030, which will be beneficial to the environment. Vertical farming reuses nutrients and eliminates the need for pesticides. Antibiotic use is reduced when meat is created in a lab. Pesticides and antibiotics are used less, which is good for the environment.
And, since food is grown in close proximity to population centers, there will be no need to transport fruits and vegetables across long distances. Decentralized production will guarantee that fresh food, including pick-your-own, is delivered quickly even in the most distant and dangerous locations. In 2015, Alaskans were ecstatic to learn that a commercial food-growing facility will be built in Anchorage. Such facilities will be commonplace by 2030.
3. Your furniture will change shape
By 2030, furniture will be very mobile. Consider a bed that folds up against the ceiling during the day to save up floor space. Alternatively, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves can be moved around to form many rooms or one large one. With a simple touch or a motion, items will move.
Depending on your choices, furniture will modify itself. Tabletops will adapt to hold a variety of things, including animate static objects, safely.
Since living quarters in major cities are growing smaller, partly to keep living costs down and partly because many people no longer desire additional places for “things,” customization will be a popular trend. Baby boomers, millennials, and Generation Z are downsizing or not acquiring possessions in the first place, opting instead to rent products and services as required. It’s been dubbed the “Uberization” tendency.
4. Air travel will be much faster
In approximately four hours, supersonic planes will whisk you from New York City to London. Jets will fly from New York to Los Angeles in about two and a half hours. More individuals will travel more often if journeys are shorter. Several passenger versions are being developed, notably by Boeing and Airbus in Europe. The Airbus version, called “the Son of Concorde,” will be capable of traveling at 1.4 times the speed of sound.
5. You will not be required to drive (or park) your vehicle yourself
Unfortunately, there will be no flying automobiles in 2030. They’ll still be too expensive to utilize on a regular basis. Besides, there will already be enough flying objects (think drones of various types), not to mention bigger aircraft fleets.
However, there will be a large number of self-driving cars, which will be controlled by a combination of artificial intelligence, highly precise electronic sensors, and advanced mapping and communications equipment that allows cars to “talk” to one another as well as traffic lights and other infrastructure.
You’ll have the choice of driving yourself or putting the vehicle on autopilot and letting it drive you where you want to go while you do something else.
What a comfort it will be to navigate streets without having to come to a halt in a traffic bottleneck.
When you get to your location, leave the car, and it will locate a parking spot for you. You could even set it to drop off a buddy at the airport before picking you up.
6. Drones Will Deliver Packages to Your Front Door
At a certain time, a drone will bring the groceries you ordered to your doorway. Drones will transport everything under the sun that is reasonably light, under 10 pounds or so, such as books, chargers, batteries, medicine, and cleaning supplies. Are you looking for a summer outfit? Bring you shorts, a sleeveless top, sunglasses, and sandals by drone.
Have you forgotten about Valentine’s Day? Send flowers, a letter, and chocolate to your sweetheart using a drone. Can’t seem to locate your child’s soccer cleats in time for the big game? Have a fresh pair of shoes brought to the playing field. The list goes on and on – you get the point. Many deliveries will take less than 30 minutes. Amazon is expected to lead the way in drone delivery.
7. Everything in your house will be controlled by your Wi-Fi router
In 2030, homes will be super smart. Your Wi-Fi router will act as a central control point for all of your appliances, entertainment screens, locks, lights, robotics, indoor and outdoor security sensors, heating and cooling systems, and other devices. Almost every object in your house will be equipped with a wireless chip that links to your smart home system and allows you to operate appliances from anywhere.
8. Your energy will be much more environmentally friendly
In 2030, a large portion of your energy will come from a mix of sources, including natural gas (the most common), wind (second most common), and lesser contributions like hydro and nuclear in almost equal percentages. Solar will make up a lesser portion of the energy mix, but it will be far greater than it was in 2015. Wind and solar farms will be large-scale, with onshore and offshore wind farms and massive solar arrays in the southern United States.
Coal consumption will continue to decline, with coal accounting for around 20% of total energy supply in 2030, however, it will still be a far larger portion of the country’s energy mix than solar power.
The combination will result in a significantly cleaner atmosphere, at least in the United States, with very little traditional air pollution from ultra-efficient gas-fired power plants and no pollution from solar, wind, or nuclear power plants. Most automobiles will also emit very little pollution.
9. The Water You Use Will Be Recycled
When you wash in the shower, for example, the water is reused. Filtering away dirt, soap scum, and other particles, such systems, derived from showers used in space, save virtually all of the water consumed every time you wash. Water from sinks and toilets will be collected and treated for reuse as well.
Closed-loop systems like this will go a long way toward conserving crucial water supplies, easing concerns about catastrophic water shortages throughout the globe.
10. A Dish Will Provide Your Life-Saving Organ Transplant
Organs generated in a petri dish will be a boon to many individuals waiting for transplants in 2030. People who need a new heart, liver, or pancreas will be among those who will be given a second chance at life.
11. Implanted microchips will ensure that you take your medication
When it comes to health difficulties, wearable — and, get this, implanted — technology will be a huge assistance. (More on that later.)
Your vital signs will be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with fitness trackers capturing electrocardiograms, monitoring and analyzing blood glucose levels, recording your blood pressure, and more. They’ll provide the information to your medical professionals in real-time.
If your wearable detects a heart attack or stroke, it will phone 911 and notify your doctor and others as required.
Implantable microchips will dispense medications according to a predetermined schedule, ensuring that you and your loved ones receive the exact dose required every time.
12. For Better or Worse, Your Smartphone Will Record Every Word You Say
Forget what your partner told you last night about what you should do today? That won’t be an issue in 2030 when you can just ask your smartphone to remind you. “I’d like to purchase concert tickets.”
Wherever you are, your phone or other devices will record all of your talks and will quickly remember the sections you require. Yes, it’s beneficial. It’s also creepy.
13. You’re not going to pay in cash
Paper banknotes and coins, including the penny, will continue to exist, but only in the hands of collectors or for a few rare transactions. Checkbooks will be almost extinct as well. By 2030, even the usage of credit and debit cards will be obsolete.
The majority of transactions will be electronic, with your bank account information kept on your mobile smart device, which you may use to make purchases. Advanced biometrics, such as voice, fingerprint, and facial recognition, will safeguard the financial transactions you undertake on mobile devices (smartphones, watches, etc.) as well as those made on your behalf (your grocery-buying fridge).