With the first decade of the 21st century mercifully behind us, a new decade dawns with hopes for better days.
Times Free Press reporters consulted experts about what is ahead for American culture. We looked at trends in television, music, film, food, design, medicine, family life, transportation and personal technology.
We’ve listed both short-term predictions and a long-term trends, which we call 2020 visions.
Food
Short-term trend: Bacon mania. According to JWT, a national advertising company, bacon is being spotted in everything from cocktails to desserts. Nathan Lindley, owner of Public House restaurant here, said he has seen bacon in drinks and desserts in larger cities but not in Chattanooga.
2020 vision: A rebirth of the neighborhood grocery. The Food Channel predicts a growth in smaller grocery stores in the next decade. Enzo’s Market will open on the Southside later this year, for example.
— Anne Braly, food writer
DINING
Short term: Closing ranks. According to the Food Channel, communal tables are gaining popularity in restaurants. Check out Alleia, 25 E. Main St., where the long communal table is one of the hottest seats in the house.
2020 vision: Restaurant growth. Jeff Messinger, owner of Mount Vernon Restaurant and past president of the Tennessee Restaurant Association, said new restaurants will continue to open here as larger chains find Chattanooga. “But the economy may slow things down for a while,” he said.
— Anne Braly, food writer
Health care
Short term: Expanded choices. Stimulated by Congress, health care immediately will begin a process of change that will affect its organization and its payment. Health-maintenance organizations and nonprofit, consumer-directed cooperatives will prosper. The numbers of uninsured Americans will decrease.
2020 vision: Scourges fade. Increased knowledge of the unique DNA sequences of people, cancer cells and bacteria will lead to highly individualized therapy for all disease states. The notion that any malignancy or infectious disease is incurable will vanish. Affordability of new therapies will remain a challenge.
— Dr. Clif Cleaveland, health columnist
FUTURE FASHIONS
Short term: New fabrics. Classic styles will remain popular, but technology will create new fabrics and textures, according to Suzanne Bishop West, owner of Frankie & Julian’s boutique.
2020 vision: Clothes with a purpose. “With the changes in weather, the greenhouse effect, the depletion of the ozone layer, I think fashion will become a hybrid of style and function,” said Ms. West. Sun-protective clothing may eventually be in every closet.
— Karen Hill, fashion writer
personal technology
Short term: Less is more. While social networking is the current tech buzzword, it will become even more important in the near future. We will see Tablet PCs, netbooks or mini-laptops and other smaller devices gather steam this year.
2020 vision: Man as machine. In the distant future WE will be the computer and the network. Emerging technology can potentially turning every object and living thing into a networked entity.
— Donnie Jenkins, technology writer
TELEVISION
Short term: The re-emergence of sitcoms. “They went out of vogue over the last decade, with the rise of crime dramas and reality shows,” said Mike Costa, general manager of WTVC NewsChannel 9. “But when times get tough, people want to be entertained without having to think too much.”
2020 vision: A la carte viewing. Digital video recorders, computers and cell phones will play a larger role in viewing habits in the next decade. “I think where TV is going is interactivity and on-demand,” Mr. Costa said. “We’ll still deliver the content, but it’ll be on the consumer’s terms how and when they watch it.”
— Lisa Denton, deputy features editor
MUSIC
Short term: Portability. Jerry Del Colliano, a music professor at the University of Southern California who writes an online column called Inside Music Media, predicts that “the future is about mobile devices — the ones we’ve seen and the ones we have yet to see.” The “big” story of the next year, he predicts will be the Apple tablet — which will serve as a book, a television, an iPod and a link to the Internet.
2020 Vision: More choices. While Del Colliano says predicting changes over the next decade is next to impossible, it is easy enough to assume that new technology will give the individual even more control over his or her music choices.
— Barry Courter, associate features editor
VIDEO GAMES
Short term: Music gaming retreats. Eric Bhatnagar, co-owner of the Chattanooga Play-N-Trade video-game retail franchise, said tried-and-true genres like shooter and role-playing games likely will continue to grow, but the music game fad spawned by “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” will slow.
2020 vision: Hardware cycles will slow. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have said they will delay transitioning to the next hardware generation. In the meantime, Mr. Bhatnagar expects both Microsoft and Sony to follow in Nintendo’s steps by introducing motion-sensing capabilities like the Wii.
— Casey Phillips, staff writer
FAMILY MATTERS
Short term: Divorce wanes. Julie Baumgardner, executive director of First Things First, said a surprise statistic of the recession has been that couples are thinking twice about divorce. “With the economy tanking, people are not as quick to jump to divorce as an answer. There has been research that has shown that.”
2020 vision: High-tech hazards. The role of technology will influence fidelity of marriages and parents’ ability to stay ahead of their teens’ online relationships. Technology also may harm marriages. “Facebook, MySpace and all the other places people can connect with people from their past, if they aren’t incredibly happy, will be a factor in healthy marriages.”
— Susan Pierce, staff writer
AUTOMOBILES
Short term: New gizmos. Options on today’s high-end cars will soon become standard accessories. Your next ride may have: back-up warning (camera or beeper), a hard-drive radio, lane-integrity circuits to correct drowsy drifting, voice GPS that tells you when to turn, transmission without gears (and costly rebuilds).
202O vision: New fuel sources. In 2020, there’s a good chance your commuter car will be a plug-in electric vehicle. By 2030, get ready for fuel-cell technology that will revolutionize driving — and more importantly, the entire world economy.
— Mark Kennedy, features editor and car columnist