Even now, listening to albums like Eric B. & Rakim’s “Follow The Leader”, Ice-T’s “O.G.” or Pubic Enemy’s “Fear of a Black Planet” reminds me of a late Saturday night in the late 80s / early 90s, logging onto any one of Melbourne’s many nascent BBSs and internet portals and chatting to all sorts of early net nerds from around the world on IRC or any other communications services.
The ability for the internet to connect us goes without saying. The future holds incredible opportunity for communication, for software to provide remote services, and for bits to gain prominence over atoms.
Now – one of the really interesting things I’ve just dicsovered in online hunting services. These are internet controlled services where people can remotely – from the comfort of their own home – hunt and shoot animals via an internet remote control, robotically aimed rifle.
I am incredibly impressed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no hunting buff. As for hunters, I can only surmise that people who would willingly track down and hunt innocent animals are themselves mostly insane. And I’m as against guns as anyone can be. I think they’re awful things with no use other than providing good inspiration for games developers (and driving tyrants like Saddam Hussein out of office).
However, the point isn’t that I’m impressed with the idea of expanding the market for hunting or guns, but that we are seeing a really interesting crossover, where we are seeing remote control of physical devices. This connection of remote devices over the internet has been something that has captured my imagination since I was a child.
This type of virtual-physical crossover is known by some as the “internet of things”, where we may imagine a future where a range of devices, from home lighting to toasters to heavy machinery are linked, monitored and controlled remotely. Vast networks of physical devices all controlled from your desktop – or mobile?
As with all of these innovations, vice and leisure industries will take the lead: hunting, sex toys (FUFME was an early example), gaming and other things will be the early adopters, driving quality and security standards that will then be adopted en masse by larger enterprises.
If you must, try online hunting yourself HERE.
