Now that I’ve retired yet another book project, I can return to my blog. Today’s topic: Monitors of the future. And, yes, forget about 3D.

I think the whole 3D thing is stupid. There’s no point to it: The world is in 3D, but I want my information flat, thank you. That includes a computer monitor.

Now I appreciate the illusion of 3D. I like drop shadows. I like flippy things. But I don’t want to wear stupid glasses to see something in “3D.”

Movies can be in 3D. They will be for a time. Unless it’s done well, which was James Cameron did in Avatar, it’s going to be a fad.

Another thing I don’t see coming is transparent monitors. They were popular in Avatar and other science fiction media.

The advantage of transparent monitors is that you can see through them. That advantage is only evident for dramatic purposes; it’s cool to see someone’s expression when they’re using a computer. It makes for a more interesting camera angle. That’s it.

In real life, a transparent monitor would be a pain in the ass. Your eyes would lose focus. Bright objects behind the monitor would obscure what you see.

My experience shows that a majority of all computers are positioned by a window, often right in front of the window. That’s not going to work for transparency.

One trend I do see happening, and which was shown in Avatar, is the curved monitor.

Monitors are getting larger. My new iMac has a 27-inch screen. That’s huge. Any larger, and I wouldn’t be able to see the left and right sides of the screen. Or, to see them, I’d have to sit about 4 feet away from the monitor.

The solution is simple: curve the screen.

My guess is that you’ll see curved screen monitors appear sporadically. There are already expensive, boutique monitors, such as the Ostendo CRVD:

That’s 47-inches at over $6000.

Eventually, I predict, Apple will come out with a curved screen iMac. That would legitimize the market, and open the floodgates for all the other manufacturers to sell curved monitors and for users to demand them.

I don’t think it would be a wild curve, just a subtle arc. But I think it will improve visibility, and allow monitors to get larger without becoming useless.

The final step? Retina display monitors. That is, monitors with a resolution so high that the human eye cannot detect the pixels. That would be something.