My mission is to facilitate real scientific work by providing professional class automation to serious amateurs and educational institutions. I expect to see amateur spectrographs attached to CCD cameras, declining prices for CCD cameras themselves, more electronic mounts, etc. Automation is absolutely essential, and it must be powerful, and above all field-extensible . I know it's going to take some time for the amateur community to realize the benefits of component software and automation, and then learn how to use it. It has become an intrinsic part of professional astronomy because it is such a powerful tool to help get the most out of each observing run.
Some kinds observing are completely impractical without automation.
Relatively few amateurs engage in astrophotography using CCD and film cameras. This is changing. The cost of CCD cameras is declining, and the ease of use of CCD cameras is improving. No longer is the processing power and storage space needed for serious automated astronomy out of reach. The appearance of professional class planetarium programs such as Starry Night, SkyMap and TheSky are proof that household PC power has risen above the red line.