Yahoo! Tech founder David Pogue: Imagine what we'll tell our grandkids about smartphones

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Ed Schipul

David Pogue

Lauren K. Ohnesorge

Staff Writer- Triangle Business Journal

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You haven't seen anything yet: It's the theme of a packed keynote Wednesday at Internet Summit 2014 at the Raleigh Convention Center.

David Pogue, founder of Yahoo! Tech, says the technology you're seeing – even the really "cool" stuff, such as Word Lens, an app that translates Spanish signs into English via live video – are the proverbial "Commodore 64."

In other words? It's going to get a lot better.

"We're going to tell our grandchildren our phones were, eh, an eighth of an inch thick," he jokes in a mock elderly tone. "You couldn't roll them up!"

And smartphones are just the beginning in the "Internet of Things" trend, where everything in your house is connected, from your coffee maker to your thermostat.

Your house isn't the only thing that's changing. Instead of connecting with a giant business chain to do a transaction – think everything from Holiday Inn to Wal-Mart – you can reach out directly to a service. Think Uber and Morrisville-based car wash app Spiffy.

Pogue says UberX and AirBnB take it a step further by connecting you to everyday people for rides in the family car and overnight stays in a spare bedroom.

"I will never use a taxi again in one of the Uber cities," he says.

He does point out the controversy – how angry taxi drivers are about the ride-share phenomenon. Here, RDU Airport has been charging some Uber drivers with misdemeanor trespass.

As for the wearable technology trend, that's one thing that's temporary, he says. Augmented reality could be that niche, he says, using surgery as an example. Fitness trackers, however, are the exception to his wearable skepticism, he says, pointing to a trend called "Quantified Self."

Lauren Ohnesorge covers information technology and entrepreneurship.