Christmas Technical Toys of the Future

We have come a long way since I was a child in the 1960s when all I wanted for Christmas was a slinky and some Rock’Em – Sock’Em Robots. Now imagine we have traveled ten years into the future, and it is Christmas 2032. Alexa has replaced kids’ parents and Santa Claus. Every toy is connected to the Internet and looks like a robot version of the animal it represents. Clean thermonuclear Christmas trees will be providing us with radiant, gamma-ray energy for all our holiday needs. Pogo sticks have also made a comeback, but they are solar-powered and can leap entire city blocks.

And while I am busy pretending to be the Ghost of Christmas Future, I thought it would also be fun to ask the Office of the CTO team about their predictions for futuristic, technical toys. So, I posed these two questions:

• What cool TECHNICAL toy or gadget would you like Santa to bring you this year in 2022?

• As a participating member of the Office of the CTO, what cool TECHNICAL toy or gadget (that has not yet been invented) would you like Santa to bring you in 10 years from now in 2032?

You know what?  We just might see I see a sneak preview of some of these magical tech toys of the future in just a few weeks at the CES 2022 conference. In the meantime, take a look at the wish list from all of our Extreme technical gurus:

Yury Ostrovsky – Sr. Product Manager, Strategic Alliances

Christmas Wish 2022:Being in cold Canada, you are always at the risk that your car will not start in one lovely crisp morning. So, a compact jump starter is my gift wish for this year.

Christmas Wish 2032:Something related to the fusion energy. I know there are multiple companies are working on the technology, however, the result is still undetermined. I believe this "toy" will resolve a lot of world's problem.

Kurt Semba – Innovation Lead

Christmas Wish 2022:A Dolby Atmos enabled TV soundbar so we can enjoy the great music and sound effects from newer movies: https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/reviews/best/by-type/dolby-atmos

Christmas Wish 2032:Looking forward till someone invents a "Shield" as shown in the latest remake of the movie "Dune". This would allow us to engage in sports and other advantageous activity with less risk to injury. See: https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Shield

Doug McDonald – Director – Strategic Alliances

Christmas Wish 2022: I think a pair of fiberoptic LED sneakers would be a fun gift.  Imagine your next presentation or trade show rocking your company colors on your glowing kicks. 

Christmas Wish 2032:I would like a teleporter so I could take the family on the ultimate Christmas adventure all in one day.  We could see the Santa’s at Bondi Beach in Australia. Check out the 100' tree in the Marienplatz followed by visiting the Christmas markets. Ice skate under the tree in Rockefeller Center in New York city, and finally attend midnight mass at St. Catherine’s Church of Bethlehem.

Phil Swain – Chief Information Security Officer

Christmas Wish 2022: I'm not sure I want any new technical toys or gadgets, just more time to enjoy the ones that I already have. Can Santa add more hours in the day?

Christmas Wish 2032:I would like Santa to invent and bring me a Roomba for yard work. One that can quietly go round my yard, collect all the leaves, and then bag them without me or anyone else having to touch them

Brendan Bonner – Innovation Lead

Christmas Wish 2022: A flipper zero: https://flipperzero.one  -While it can be used for some "alternative" purposes, it's primary thing is to learn about security in all of the connected things we live with.

Christmas Wish 2032:While I'm waiting for DNA Repair Nano-robots to fix my limbs, wrinkles, and organs; I'd like Santa to bring an in-ear nerve communication interface; it's like Babelfish, but instead of just translating you can connect and experience all sensory inputs of anyone else on the planet in real time; no glasses required!

Carolina Bessega - Principal Architect

Christmas Wish 2022:Definitely the Amazon Astro for Christmas this year! Not sure if my cat will want a robot in the house. Look at the video: https://youtu.be/sj1t3msy8dc

Christmas Wish 2033:I would love a food replicator. You can get inspiration from the replicator the USS Enterprise: https://youtu.be/8kw9_O10Fh8

David Coleman - Director of Wireless

Christmas Wish 2022: I want a trail camera for my cabin in the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia, where there is an abundance of wildlife. You never know when a crazed bear might show up at your doorstep. I also asked Santa for a Remarkle 2 tablet for note-taking for work.

Christmas Wish 2032:In ten years, I will be 72 years old, and I hope to be at least semi-retired and savoring the fruits of my long tech career. Even though we are looking to the future, I want a time machine to revisit the past. I would travel back to July 16^th, 1969 and watch Apollo 11 liftoff from Cape Kennedy to the moon. I actually did that as a nine-year-old kid. Oh, and I would also travel back to 1966 and play with my Rock’Em – Sock’Em Robots.

To summarize, our peeps in the Office of the CTO all envision Christmas 2032, where the way we interact as a society will have progressed. In 2022, we already have unlimited access to information, so future tech toys might depend less on magical new technologies and more on the kinds of experiences these new technologies can create. And when those experiences can be shared across the globe in real-time, the world gains an opportunity to learn from each other and grow together in ways that would never have been possible.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Office of the CTO at Extreme Networks