Waiting for this article to appear for about half a decade.

Why to expect?

The military invents the Internet, and years later it revolutionizes the private sector with its capacities.

Then the military invents GPS and years later it revolutionizes the private sector with its capacities.

It was only a matter of time with UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). What slowed this down a lot was 9/11 and the reality that planes were used.

Now, we get enough time and distance and just watch this next revolution take off. Huge demand in the public military sector will drive this, but over time the spillover effect in the private sector realm will dwarf it, just like with the Internet and GPS.

Here's the Washington Post piece:

Small Firms Turn to Drones Demand Grows for Unmanned Craft

By Dina ElBoghdady
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 31, 2005; Page D01

This genie is just about out of the bottle. In ten years we'll all see UAVs all over America. It will be a great example of the ubiquitous utility of military technologies that serve the SysAdmin force.