The Future is Ready to Arrive

This first full week of the New Year was marked by a lot of expectation. The stocks opened with a boom on Monday, retail sales have hit a two-year high, and the CES brought out the latest and greatest to be hitting the shelves. For those non-techy "lamewads" out there, the CES is the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas. Such gadgets as tablets and 3D televisions are on exhibition causing great hype among pin stripe suiters and trekkies alike. While the United States and the rest of the world are still trying to overcome the giant obstacles of the economy and terrorism (among many others,) signs of "bigger," "better," and "stronger" are looming just around the corner. It's quite easy to see looking at such innovations on display at the CES and even in other industries such as fashion, media, and automotive. That's because the backbone of every innovative product or idea is imagination. As long as you still have enough people letting their imagination run wild, stories are made, characters join in, and scenes are set.

Here are just a few examples of what we have to look forward to thanks to some daring people...

Plastic wear? These sleek shoes from Melissa Plastic Dreams add some flair to traditional footwear. The best part? After enough wear and tear they're completely recyclable. [Can frequently be found at Ziezo in St. Louis.]

From the movie "Avatar," to the new 3D television from Toshiba, to the recently announced ESPN 3D network, it looks like visual concept is trending right before our eyes.

The Honda Fit is ergonomic, GPS capable, fuel efficient. and comes with USB interface. Sounds like nothing new. That is until you add the caviat that it's also very budget friendly.