I have always been an avid collector of sports cards.  My collection has grown tremendously and I still have fond memories of getting supplies for my collection with my father.  Over the years sports cards have changed.  The future of card collecting has arrived.  Panini has introduced the first video trading card.  I recently had a chance to see this card at a sports card convention and it is absolutely amazing.  The card is a larger and much thicker than your typical sports card.  It shows a detailed video of the player including some of his greatest highlights.  The football cards are going to be numbered which will make them collector’s items right when they hit the market. It also means that they will not be that cheap.  Panini has yet to release the pricing on these amazing cards and currently it seems that they were at the show trying to see how customers react.

How the Hobby Will Change in The Near Future

As licensing of baseball cards and football cards gets more and more expensive companies will start producing unlicensed cards.  Most of these cards will not have team logos but will be licensed by the players association.  I am not sure how collectors will feel about this but so far buyers are more concerned with the design of the cards more than licensing.

Expect card manufacturers to start adding more autographs cards and jersey items to make up for lack of licensing.  Upper Deck is working on some new products when it comes to the way they print sports cards which may be interesting.  Some of the hockey cards that they have produced are some of the most futuristic cards I have ever seen.  One of the sets that are a great example of futuristic card design is the Upper Deck ICE cards produced in 2010.

One of the best ways to understand the current economic crisis is to understand that many Americans live above there means.  This will cause many people to have to adjust there spending as well as there living situations.  The homes of the future will be much smaller and will give you the opportunity to save a lot of money.  How?  Well first you wont need to search for the best mortgage insurance rates because you wont need it.  Your electricity will cost half if not less than half of what it does now.  You probably wont have a lot of grass to cut which can save you some money as well.

All of these small subtle changes will give more Americans money to save for there future retirements and hopefully keep them from working 80 hour work weeks.  Great design can effect and will effect the homes of tomorrow.  If we can work on lowering the bills of what we consume daily like food and electricity it will not just help America save money but hopefully pay off our national debt as well.

Cosmetic Dentistry has come a long way in the past few years and is actually becoming a great way to get you the look you want in a very fast way. With the new reality TV shows and public makeovers gracing your television cosmetic dentistry has received a lot of free publicity and is becoming really popular. The other major benefit has been the new radical technology that have been invented over the past few years. We have gone from ugly looking metal braces to clear braces that you cannot see. From teeth pulling to teeth covering with new veneers and clear fillings. Michael, at Anthem Family Dentistry, has seen a great increase in his traffic due to the immense popularity in the new items that they are offering. “It seems that every time we get a new item in people are jumping all over it.” he explains. The main reason being is that the technology of the past was meant to fix the problem but not fix the problem and be eye appealing at the same time.

When I was younger baseball cards was a great way for me to learn how to be a little more organized and value certain items while also learning that saving and collecting can equal some extra money.  I always loved sports and as we look into the future items as small as the baseball card are evolving into the future.  Topps has begun looking ahead with Etopps cards and 3D Baseball Cards.  These futuristic sports cards let someone purchase quantities of cards online and whatever are not purchased by a certain release date the rest of the print run are destroyed.  For Example:  A young Lebron James has a print run of 2000 cards.  Only 800 are purchased on the release date and than the other 1200 are destroyed.  This creates scarcity and the conundrum of supply and demand. As collectors buy Derek Jeter Baseball Cards or try to determine the value of Alex Rodriguez Rookie Card 3D Baseball cards are virtual.

Topps has created a card that interacts with there web site.  You get the sports card in a pack of one of there special editions and than you take the card to topps.com.  This lets you see a virtual 3d version of that player.  This amazing technology lets the collector interact with the sports cards like never before.

As card manufacturers like Upper Deck and Topps refine this technology the results will become infinite.  As people take old school fun like baseball card collecting into the future it will be crucial to see if new technologies like 3d baseball cards will become popular with today’s collectors.

The future of cell phones bring many options as well all tried to stay connected.  Whether its to the internet, texting or by phone people are more addicted to staying connected with there friends and family all the time. Even though this seems to be frowned upon by mainstream media I find it comforting that there is a lot of love being spread around.  I don’t want to sound like a John Lennon song but cell phones and the internet have become vital parts of our everyday life.  My son loves downloading ring tones from various sites and getting adding cool new skins to customize his cell phone.

I believe that these items will come still exist in the future but just in one location.  As nano-technology lets science shrink all of our gadgets I expect that in the next 10 years you will have a watch that will have the capacity of an Ipod, the speed of high speed internet and the sound of a quality Bose system.

Apple has already begun tinkering with this technology and as the Iphone continues to add quality apps we might be there sooner than later.  Steve Jobs will always be on the cutting edge of new technology as has mastered the way people like to experience every day life.

Jacque Fresco is an inspiration to many futurists.  His art and design are way ahead of there times.  If you are not familiar with Jacques body of work you will begin to see it on this site as well as his site the Venus Project.  Jacque is not only an amazing futurist but is also acclaimed for a

his new way of thinking in the way society’s are built and how to fix a broken system that is not effiecent by its design.  Even though when many people I have spoken too visist Jacque they are amazed by his open mind and way of thinking but are sometimes puzzled on how to make the change take place.  He gives new meaning to change and his designs will be remembered throught the years.