are living in an amazing time, but many of us seem to take it for granted. We have private spaceships (although they blow up more often than I'd like). Self-driving cars are on the road, even though we can't buy them yet, and there are plans for a 12-mile-high inflatable building.
Granted, a number of us are kind of convinced it will end up looking like a giant version of the inflatable fan blown stick man that you often see outside of car dealerships. It kind of sounds like one of those ideas folks come up with when they've been partying too much.
The Intel Developer Forum kind of reminded me of a mini-World's Fair this year, with three floors of ongoing entertainment and demonstrations. It was actually a ton of fun; it started with the new CEO giving a killer keynote and ended with my friend Genevieve Bell -- Intel's secret weapon futurist -- talking about how makers are helping treat Ebola.
Following are some of the highlights and a look into our future.
Intel TV
Intel TV isn't like Apple TV -- I'm talking about an Intel TV show. Yep, Intel is funding a reality show contest with a prize of, wait for it, one million dollars. It sounds a little like American Idol, but it will be focused on makers.
I'd just focus on cool, forward-looking and entertaining. That would be a ton more fun, and the more practical inventions already have crowdfunding as a more reliable way to get lots of cash.
It will be interesting to see how Intel develops an invention taxonomy, though, because if the products get too diverse or too practical, the show might become confusing or boring.
3D Printers Everywhere
Almost everywhere at IDF you looked, there were 3D-printed objects scanned with Intel's RealSense camera, which is moving from tablets to laptops. They ranged from robotic spiders that followed commands (and did kind of look like they wanted to rebel after being made to dance to music for hours) to a huge mother spider about the size of a small pony (clearly these folks didn't watch Stargate), to robotic scarabs (they didn't watch The Mummy either), to a pair of cool robotic owls (I don't have a problem with Harry Potter).
There was one station where you could get scanned and then printed in a block of laser-etched clear plastic. That was pretty amazing, and at several times during the event, the wait was more than three-hours long.
Gaming Machines to Die For
Both Intel and Microsoft seemed to abandon the PC gaming market when the Xbox launched, and I personally thought it was a huge mistake -- epic, actually. Well, the good news is both companies are reinvesting in it, and I saw the result of Intel's renewed focus at IDF.
Intel showed off some amazing gaming rigs. One that was custom-built in Sacramento looked like a sculpture, and I got to talk to the guy who commissioned it. The labor cost alone was US$5,000 -- and that was without any of the parts. Water-cooled using a Fiat radiator, it's one of the most amazing machines I've ever seen.
Intel Unite
One of the interesting little technologies at the show was Intel Unite -- a little microcomputer that would connect to your laptop wirelessly, so that multiple people could collaborate during a presentation.
Schools apparently are going crazy for this thing, because it costs less and is easier to put in than an extended HDMI cable. At IDF, there always are a few little things like this that most folks miss.
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