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I can see the interest in Astronomy growing to a wider slice of the Community..I do a bit of handyman work at the local Primary School and get asked to give talks on Astronomy and also give viewing sessions..( quite a few parents did buy their kids a scope for Xmas from a reputible store!)..
I have noticed an increase in leaning about outer space...A lot of subjects taught in Schools realitive to Earth science is largely obtained via computers..however learning the sky does take a more specialised approach..unless Schools start building their own Observatory.
I think the future of Amateur Astronomy equipmentwise is that telescopes will be smarter, not larger...concepts in digital technology may develop an optical system that will produce images from other wavelengths other than visible light to a quality of that produced by a DSLR...so the size of the optics may not be what's required..but the power of the imageing processor!!
As for light pollution...maybe LED lighting will find it's way into streetlights using a narrowbeam cluster coloured amber in a special diffuser which reflects the light so the lightsource isn't visible (like covering the filiment of a lightglobe)
I think that dark sky sites will become harder to find and that a trip away to the bush will become the norm for anyone wanting to do some quality viewing/imagining..etc..more or less like it is now...
Oh well!!...that my 2 bob's worth!!
Cheers!!
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