It's always nice (and cool) to fancy thoughts about the future - but I think a lot of techie futurist types forget a few things don't evolve as quickly (or at all) like technology does.
Human preferences, for example. Do people *want* to live in a world like you describe? Maybe some. Maybe more than a few. But for many (esp the non techie masses) there are many more important things than living in such a "perfect" world. In fact, a lot of people like things "imperfect".
I agree, Apple is doing some great things, and kudos to you for having a vision. While it may well come true, I think it sounds more the fanciful visions that futurists in the 60s had of 1984 or 2001...no one is flying around with jet packs, food isn't being replicated by in home food replicators, etc.
In fact - there is a movement towards eating *whole* foods *locally* sourced and *locally* produced to a store you walked to, rode your bike to, etc.
It has little to do with technology and more to do with humanity and how we'd like to live. Oddly enough, when we find a technology that "solves" a problem, it brings with it many more we fail to envision. For example, the iPhone is great, a wonderful device. Wireless devices in general are great, but the impact they've had on our ability to interact in a the present with those around us hasn't really been improved. Sure, it's helped us connect & interact with those *not* around us, and you could compare that (somehow), but it isn't without a tradeoff. I'd say many times technology impedes one's ability (certainly doesnt enhance it) to have a person-to-person interaction.
PowerPoint is another great example - Edward Tufte has a great essay on how it is essentially destroyed business, scientific, and engineering communication and created some horrible situations.
Granted, these problems are not inherent to technology but how it is (poorly) applied...but the crux of that poor application is a mismatch between the technology and how it interacts with our world -which we too often fail to understand or design into the technology.
Frankly, I think we can't fully "design" that into the technology and its a bit utopian/idealistic to think we can or envision a society like you describe. I don't want to live in the Brave New World, personally...
I have friends who are working on the home rapid prototyping technology I was talking about. With what we have today, it seems very far off. Fifty years ago, a 9 inch black and white TV seemed like science fiction. People talked to people in other states by mailed letter because long distance phone calls were only for the rich. Computers with less proccesing power than a digital wristwatch cost more than anyone but the biggest corporations could afford. Many countries could not afford a computer.
The rapid prototyping technology today is slow and costly. It can only be used to make small things. It will evolve on the same pace that the computer did. Eventually, the cost of making anything will be the cost of the raw materials, the energy to run the MC and the license for the thing you want to make. Technology runs faster than you think.
Or inspired by.
