Virtual reality check: Futurists dissect Amazon’s new ‘Upload’ TV series, and its digital afterlife
Glen Hiemstra is the founder of Futurist.com, an author and an expert on future trends. His timeline for some of the tech depicted in “Upload” differed from the show. The driverless cars might be more like 2040; the hand/phone screen might not be too far off; the uploading is probably decades or even centuries away; and the automated grocery store is essentially here now with Amazon Go.
Hiemstra, who echoed Anderson’s point about a high-end food replicator in a working-class character’s home, was more put off by the show’s notion that people would have to decide, in the moment, whether to go to regular death or upload. And the the idea of afterlife as a resort hotel is “a bit sad” to him.
Furthermore, Hiemstra noticed that all the tech failed to make much of a difference in income and life inequalities. He would have liked to see a future where super tech alleviates the rich-poor gap and doesn’t make it worse.
See the full story here: https://www.geekwire.com/2020/reality-check-critiquing-tech-gadgets-vr-afterlife-amazons-new-tv-series-upload/