Virtual Society: 2009

The virtual office was the new reality in 2009. The advantages were just too great. Some countries, companies and industries had embraced the move to the virtual office faster than others. However, the higher cost structure of brick and mortar employers made them ripe for takeover and transformation. When earlier in the year Shell was bought out by a Chinese energy company that had not existed 5 years before, and which, unlike Shell, had embraced the virtual office it served as a wakeup call to other such slow, old companies. Even the most skeptical companies were aiming to move to virtual offices within a year's time.

WiMax was beginning to come of age. While not universally available, it was present in many big cities. It was starting to take market share from older 3G systems. Mobile phone companies were reacting in a number of ways. Some took controlling interests in WiMax operators and began offering service. Some tried to accelorate the evolution of 3G systems to the point where they could be somewhat competitive with WiMax in terms of speed. Others tried to fight WiMax by seeking governments to place more restrictions on the new disruptive technology. The fight was on.

Meanwhile, the fight in entertainment had largely been resolved. The big entertainment companies had lost. Television, movies and music had converged with the computer. People had accepted the internet as the primary source of this content. CDs, DVDs and the like were now the stuff of history. All this was available with the click of mouse, or increasingly, a voice command.

Newer, better and less clunky connected watches and other such devices were appearing on the market, and being accepted, especially in East Asia. More companies and airlines were using biometrics.