Technology in 2077: What should be available

[chriswebb2020.736]

Technology in 2077: What should be available

This is probably going to end up being a pretty broad topic, but here goes...

The 1980's is arguably the golden age of 'the gadget'. Here is a rough idea of where technology was at in the 1980's:






Now, this was taken, along with idea's that were in development, and extrapolated to produce a 'believeable' level of technology for the Dystopian Future that is Cyberpunk 2020:

So, what tech would we like to see updated, dropped, kept, re-envisioned or invented?

Personally, I really want to see paper. I like paper, and even though we are already heading towards a paperless society, (and we've been told that for who knows how long, and it hasn't happened yet,) I really hope that 2077 is not paperless. I want to see some lowtech in my hightech.

 

[Sardukhar]

I think paper is essential, in terms of feel. Discarded wrappings and tickets, blown down an alley, in a sodden mass against the wall, stuck to a fridge in some Combat Zone Apartment with "Mum, Dad, Other Dad, Me, Booster (Our pet!)" drawings on it, that kind of thing.

As an information medium, it's pretty low-level now. By 2077, it should be virtually replaced as a data method by anyone that matters. But as a world flavour, essential.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

I think paper is essential, in terms of feel. Discarded wrappings and tickets, blown down an alley, in a sodden mass against the wall, stuck to a fridge in some Combat Zone Apartment with "Mum, Dad, Other Dad, Me, Booster (Our pet!)" drawings on it, that kind of thing.

As an information medium, it's pretty low-level now. By 2077, it should be virtually replaced as a data method by anyone that matters. But as a world flavour, essential.

Digital copies of newspapers and magazines are already available today, and the majority of people who read on the go already use kindles and other e-readers. I can see the social elite and probably the majority of the middle classes opting for digital media in '77, but I really do hope that paper remains the disposable medium of choice for the masses.


Mobile phones are an odd one though:

The CP2020 Mobile Phone was pretty much at the same developmental point as the Nokia 3110, but there were no text messages. There were Pagers, which did feature in 2020, but phone SMS didn't really happen until the mid 90's, just like DVD's.

 

[Maelcom404]

people will always use paper IMO
It's a "solid thing", you can erase a .txt, but you can't erase a solid inked paper.
Contract, bank form, etc...
I think they'll keep on some "paper" thing, just by matter of security (mostly in a high tech age, but probably for important things)
Also, paper is usefull, alway, like, you work on something, you have a few numbers, you're not going to get out your phone, write them, etc...
You just take a piece of paper and write it on.

I figure in 2077 hacking would be even crazier than before, so paper would probably be a good way to keep things "under the radar".
It's there, but not "There" in the cyberspace. Think also about the last corporate war, the net was a mess, corporates probably thought about it too.
"Paper is expensive, but you can't hack it", IMO, on certain things, the tech can go back.

Even books, I don't know about you, but I can't read an "Ebook", it's pretty uncomfortable.
Paper will always be there, but I figure it'll be in a minor quantity.


Also, about tech, nowadays, holograms are quite "decent", yet, expensives.
But I figure, in the future, it would be in a lot of place, in clubs (tonight "XXXX live" ), in malls/shops, in the street, in advetisement, etc...
I expect a lot of optical illusions with holograms, like in Alien 2, when Ripley is in a "fake garden" in the begining, but in better.
[video=youtube;Cqfa-u3DSdk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqfa-u3DSdk[/video]

 

[cyberpunkforever]

i'm sure there will be all kind of technology, maybe the people with low resources will have the lowtech, and ric peaople and companies will have the better higher tech, and the hackers and cyberpunkers of course, they'll always find a way to get access to the best tech, some of the good old 80's clunky colourful tech will be available, and of course the most high end advances like a.i. holograms, social media and socal network loaded and connected directly to our brains, gear and weapons with voice activation, and some basic a.i,
the posibilities are endless

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

Those holograms are really good, didn't know we were at that stage already.

I can see this kind of 'tech level' and quality being used to differentiate between social areas

 

[Hoplite_22]

i'm sure there will be all kind of technology, maybe the people with low resources will have the lowtech, and ric peaople and companies will have the better higher tech, and the hackers and cyberpunkers of course, they'll always find a way to get access to the best tech, some of the good old 80's clunky colourful tech will be available, and of course the most high end advances like a.i. holograms, social media and socal network loaded and connected directly to our brains, gear and weapons with voice activation, and some basic a.i,
the posibilities are endless

I don't know, if I was doing this i wouldn't have the comms stuff built in. might need to ditch it at short notice. too easy to be tracked and hacked otherwise.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

I don't know, if I was doing this i wouldn't have the comms stuff built in. might need to ditch it at short notice. too easy to be tracked and hacked otherwise.

Like in the new version of Total Recall when he has to cut that phone out of his hand.

 

[Maelcom404]

Phone implants etc... sounds cool.
But seeing how corporations are greedy, you'd need to find a way for you (the customer), having to buy a new one, every-now-and-then.
Selling one 500€b phone, one time to one persone isn't interesting.

Better make them pay 50€b a shitload of time.

Juste like... now pretty much lol.
They always think about "how make you buy something new" (look at Apple), and people will buy it and replace their old one... even if it still works.

IMO it's also an important thing to figure about tech.
Corporates rules everything around.
They've nothing good or bad for you, they just want money.
They go with something cheap and easily manufacturable to sell a lot, with a decent life-time but enought so you'll have to get a new one, more than getting it repaired, etc...

You can have the best tech around, if it won't make any profit out of it...
...No one will sell it, and you won't get it (unless you can afford crazy money and get some good contacts)

 

[kanonite]

Stuff like liquid armor, self-driving cars (possibly), neural computers, a greater emphasis on drones than in 2020, more man-sized ACPA's (miniaturization bby), greater use of alternate power sources (because if I remember correct, the fourth corp war drained the worlds oil.) and more easily-accessible AV's (Because if CIri is to be believed, they are a lot more common than they were 57 years ago.)

 

[Neuronin]

I wonder if something as advanced as an invisibility cloak will be available. Corporations would probably have monopoly on this technology and they would obviously never allow commoners to access it. The cloaking device could actually be an exciting gameplay feature in CP 2077.

I expect the world of 2077 to have an efficient way of dealing with pollution. I'd expect cyberpunk to be a little dirty, but there is no way you could have a living breathing city without a way to deal with pollution. I guess Bejing is a living city, but do we expect people to walk around Night City with air-pollution masks?

I definitely think paper should be available. Paper is just too practical. You'd always want this technology available.

 

[Tramp-Graphics]

I wonder if something as advanced as an invisibility cloak will be available. Corporations would of course have monopoly on this technology and they would obviously never allow commoners to access it. The invisibility cloak could actually be an exciting gameplay feature in CP 2077.

I definitely think paper should be available. Paper is just too practical. You'd always want this technology available.

I expect the world of 2077 to have an efficient way of dealing with pollution. I'd expect cyberpunk to be a little dirty, but there is no way you could have a living breathing city without a way to deal with pollution. I guess Bejing is a living city, but do we expect people to walk around Night City with air-pollution masks?

Actually, the 2020 game supplements already have various versions of this tech available on the market for characters to purchase; most notably in Chrome Book 2. These include the Militech "Ghost Suit", Gibson Battle Gear "Sneak Suit", and Militech Mirage Gear, among others.Stormfront also has the fabric "Spytex" which can be made into clothing and armor. It's a stealth fabric laced with nanocomputers which absorb and disperse IR, UV, Radar, motion detectors, etc. It costs 10x the normal cost of the armor or clothing being made. Shockwave also includes the Arasaka "Blackjack' stealth armor which combines the effects of the Militach "Ghoist Suit" and Gibson "Sneak Suit" in addition to being RADAR absorbent as well.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

I'm ok with a limited invisibility capability, but I wouldn't want it to dominate or become a one trick pony kind of thing. If it does exist in 2077 then I would hope it would be limited in the number of uses it had, (say it uses some sort of special charge or consumable,) and would have to have other limitations too, such as time and movement distorting the ability.

 

[Neuronin]

What about Ghost in The Shell technology. Will it be possible to upload your consciousness on a computer? This could solve the game over problem. When you die you can just return to the databank and download your information into another body.

Neat, right? :smoke:

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

What about Ghost in The Shell technology. Will it be possible to upload your consciousness on a computer? This could solve the game over problem. When you die you can just return to the databank and download your information into another body.

Neat, right? :smoke:

Nope, nope, nope!

Not what I want to see at all really. Done to death. Look at EVE Online and other games that use memory backup stuff like that.

You die, you die. That's how it was in 2020 and how it should be in 2077. Trauma Team can come grab ypur ass out the fire while you're bleeding out, that's fine. But it's going to be a single player game, so the game over scenario does not need a fix, it's called not getting killed in the first place.

No respawning thank you.

 

[Maelcom404]

I can't believe all those people wanting bodybank going bankrupt!
What are we gonna do without our dead? huh?
How are we gonna do to patch you?
You're supposed to be able to die to need us in order for us to need you (but, probably not the way you'd like it)

Damn choombah, kids those days...

 

[Poet_and_Gentleman.598]

Nope, nope, nope!

Not what I want to see at all really. Done to death. Look at EVE Online and other games that use memory backup stuff like that.

You die, you die. That's how it was in 2020 and how it should be in 2077. Trauma Team can come grab ypur ass out the fire while you're bleeding out, that's fine. But it's going to be a single player game, so the game over scenario does not need a fix, it's called not getting killed in the first place.

No respawning thank you.

Memory backups (and cloning) would be awesome ideas.

But not as a means of escaping death. If you were cloned and you died, you wouldn't live through your clone or your memory backup. Your conscience would just be extinguished.

The point is: it's not you. dead is dead,

 

[thewarsend]

Rocket roller skates and grenade arm slingshots!! Yeah, I couldn't resist..

I think I would pick hologram tech.. They are being developed even now and I think it would be cool to trick enemies by placing explosives and holograms.. I am not saying it should be readily available, I am just saying it should exist as a way of tricking enemies..

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

Rocket roller skates and grenade arm slingshots!! Yeah, I couldn't resist..

I think I would pick hologram tech.. They are being developed even now and I think it would be cool to trick enemies by placing explosives and holograms.. I am not saying it should be readily available, I am just saying it should exist as a way of tricking enemies..

Total Recall ftw

 

[Neuronin]

Nope, nope, nope!

Not what I want to see at all really. Done to death. Look at EVE Online and other games that use memory backup stuff like that.

You die, you die. That's how it was in 2020 and how it should be in 2077. Trauma Team can come grab ypur ass out the fire while you're bleeding out, that's fine. But it's going to be a single player game, so the game over scenario does not need a fix, it's called not getting killed in the first place.

Sure, I wouldn't vote for it myself, primarily because the concept itself is very far-fetched, even for CP 2077. The problem is that game over breaks immersion. The traditional concept of game over seems out of place in many modern games - mostly because many games today are less gamy, since they're striving to resemble reality and thereby provide us with a convincing experience. The game over concept made perfect sense in the past, but I wish there was a better alternative today. I remember playing TES with a dead is dead mentality, so that I'd have to make a new character whenever the current character died. This can actually be very exciting for a while, before it becomes tedious.

I think Trauma Team can be a good idea.