Technoscience and Everyday Life: The Complex Simplicities of the Mundane

My Saturday newspaper tells me that in 2020, Britain, and by extension much of the rest of the western world, will be a very different place (the Guardian, 2020 Supplement, 18 September 2004). Everyday life will be transformed in many ways. In rich societies such as Britain, microchips will be ubiquitous, making hitherto 'dumb' materials such as brick, medicine jars and milk cartons 'smart'. Medicine bottles will be able to detect when they were last used and how much medicine was taken, and will inform their users about their next dose. The use-by date stored on the microchips in milk cartons will be monitored by the refrigerator, which can place orders for fresh milk. These are some of the fruits of technoscience that will impact on the everyday life of the future.