Hindsight · review build · data not yet validated

Networked computers on and around us

Ray Kurzweil, Books and essays, 1999, published 1999-01

People typically have at least a dozen computers on and around their bodies, which are networked using “body LANs” (local area networks).

Source

Verdict

missTwo blind graders agree (D7, rule D16). The auditor agent confirmed it (D11).

Grader A: miss

In 2009 a typical person carried one or two computing devices (phone, maybe a music player or laptop). Bluetooth personal area networks linked a phone to a headset, but a dozen networked body-worn computers was not typical, and it was not typical by 2014 either.

Test: At least 20% of people with 12 or more networked on-body devices: effectively 0%.

Bluetooth (Wikipedia) (retrieved 2026-09): Bluetooth personal area networks existed mainly for phone-to-headset links and peripherals in 2008-2010.
Smartwatch (Wikipedia) (retrieved 2026-09): Wearable computers were pre-commercial in 2009.

Grader B: miss

In 2009 a typical person carried one to three devices (phone, maybe a media player and Bluetooth headset). Nothing near a dozen networked on-body computers existed, then or by 2014.

Test: Household test: users with ~12 networked body devices ~0%.

Wikipedia: Wearable computer (accessed 2026-09-28): Pebble 2012, Google Glass test 2013, Apple Watch April 2015; no commercial ring/earring computers documented.

All captured fields

rank: 5
kind: decade_prediction
section: Computers
subject: Networked computers on and around us
target year: 2009
timing: in
position: Chapter 9, "2009"; item Computers 5 in Kurzweil 2010, p. 14
confidence: high
note: Wording as reproduced by the author in "How My Predictions Are Faring" (2010); book page not given there. Subject label is the essay's own item heading.