And they all lived happily ever after...

Less people are getting married
Fewer couples are living together
Number of pensioners has overtaken number of under 16s
Life expectancy increasing, people will live to their 90s

The good news is increasingly people are finding love later in life and wedding bells do ring for the over 50s.

http://www.jansochor.com/photo-blog.aspx?id=marriage-old-couple

Wood is good

Electronic product manufacturers are increasingly using natural materials instead of the traditional metal and plastic casing. It seems though we're getting more techy we still crave the natural touch. Take a look at these beautiful examples...

www.magno-design.com

www.miniot.com

uk.asus.com

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eReading

Tech blogs and Twitter have been buzzing this week after announcements about the Amazon Kindle 2 and Plastic Logic’s electronic reader.

Plastic Logic’s product is targeted specifically to newspaper readers. News is updated constantly and there is a function enabling annotation. It also supports a broad range of document types from PowerPoint to PDF and is developing their touch screen technology to enable page turning and text highlighting. They have already announced deals with the FT and USA Today which will see the publications providing content to the eReader.

www.plasticlogic.com

The Kindle 2 targets keen, affluent book readers. Legal complications and availability of the downloading network will slow take up of the Kindle outside of the USA.

One might ask if there really is a market for these products. Admittedly reading an entire book on a tiny mobile phone screen is hardly ideal. Surely though consumers are already able to download and read content from newspapers through smartphones, desktops and laptops.
The media industry is supporting the wide use of these products as it could mean increased subscriptions to newspapers and more advertising revenue.

Commuters around the world must be sighing with relief at the thought of increased elbow room and ink-free fingers in the years to come…

Electro

Historically eletric car design has been less than super, more tin can than a luxurious mode of transport. Is this because the general opinion is that if it’s green it’s not sexy? All those in favour of saving the planet must be hemp clad and have an abundance of body hair?

Step forward Tesla and Shelby Super Cars. Though Tesla got an unfair bashing from Mr Clarkson on Top Gear last year regarding power, the Roadster has received multiple thumbs up in other reviews. Camilla Cavendish of the Times even claims she has fallen in love with it.

Shelby Super Cars has released details of its new Ultimate Aero EV which looks as though it’s been modelled on the Ferrari Enzo though obviously will be kinder to the environment as well as much cheaper to run.

http://www.carforums.net/reviews/makes/pictures/tesla-roadster.jpg

http://www.gentlemansgadgets.com/for%20men/images/2008/03/ssc-ultimate-aero-ev.jpg

These car manufacturers have thankfully proven you can look cool in an electric car. Even the Governator of California has ordered a Tesla. Imagine him squeezed into one of those old tin cans…

The kilometer high club

One is in Russia, two are in the US, seven are in the Far East and a whopping 10 are in the Middle East. Any idea what they are?

They are the 20 tallest buildings in 2020 as predicted by CTBUH (Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat). The four tallest are astoundingly part residential and begs the question, what sort of person would like to live a kilometer above streetlevel?

The tallest building in 2570 BC was the Great Pyramid of Giza at 146m tall. It was nearly 4,000 years before another structure beat it and that was Lincoln Cathedral in England. These days the tallest building seems to change every few months. These super buildings are set to be completed by 2020 and could be interpreted as an egotistical symbol of pride and wealth.

source: http://www.ctbuh.org/HighRiseInfo/TallestDatabase/Tallest20in2020/tabid/791/Default.aspx

Will the nostril capillaries of the human race evolve to withstand the pressure at the top of a kilometer tall building?

What will the next challenge be for architects and engineers? Submerged buildings built from the depths of the Mariana trench? Buildings suspended in the stratosphere?

The sky’s the limit… perhaps.

Interactive TV

Have you ever watched a movie and decided you needed that last track on your iPod.
After desperately Googling the soundtrack and listening to every listed song on YouTube you still haven't found it. Frustrating.

Imagine a time where you can pause a movie, click a button for the song title, click on a link to iTunes and automatically download it to your laptop. The same goes for that mobile phone Daniel Craig is using, or the shirt he's wearing, or the Aston he just crashed.

Perfect Product Placement

The not-so-beautiful and the beast

Obama's new wheels are pretty impressive. The BBC News website has called it "The Beast" and details of security features are much like an air craft carrier's turning distance: classified intelligence.

Another super-vehicle will be participating at Obama's presidential inauguration parade next week, the 2020 Lunar Rover. NASA engineers have obviously focussed on function rather than form as it is far from beautiful.

The reported specifications for both vehicles are quite similar with an air-tight cabin and it's own oxygen supply.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10142956-48.html

Obama’s “Beast”
· Bullet proof glass
· Armoured body
· A separate oxygen supply
· A completely sealed interior to protect against a chemical attack
· Could withstand a rocket-propelled grenade
· Tyres are said to work flat in case they are shot at · Nicholas Trotta, the Assistant Director for the Office of Protective Operations of the Secret Service said, “…this car's security and coded communications systems make it the most technologically advanced protection vehicle in the world”

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/26/nasa-demos-2020s-12-wheeled-pressurized-lunar-rover-concept-ca/

2020 Lunar Rover
· Air-tight cabin
· Sleeps two
· Can accommodate 2 for up to two week trips
· Twelve-wheeled
· Battery powered
· Has robotic arms
· Does not require the astronauts to wear spacesuits.
· Speed of 6mph
· Can traverse over 600 miles on a single charge of its battery
· Big window (for viewing lunar landscape)


Perhaps Virgin Galactic will manufacture a prettier amalgam if they succeed in taking tourists to the moon by 2020.