The following is a rather long screed about what I would like to see in the future. If you don’t want to read the whole thing the gist of it is that while I like that devices are converging to all in one units, I wish that I didn’t have to sync everything up all the time.
Everywhere you look these days devices are converging. Phones with built-in cameras, PDAs with built-in phones, computers that run your entertainment center, and Entertainment Systems that surf the Internet. The list could go on and on. There is a lot of overlap between these various convergences, too.
Consider cellphones for a minute. A typical cellphone nowadays will make phone calls, take pictures (and send them to friends), and help keep you organized with a built-in address book and calendar. While a PDA will keep you organized, take pictures, and do mobil computing. The problem is that neither of these devices are able to do everything well.
Of course, it would be easy to just concentrate on the covergence of handheld devices. But there are a lot of other convergences happening. Consider the Media Center PC, a computer that can be used as a home entertainment center. It comes complete with a TV Tuner card, DVR capability, DVD burner, and al the software. They even throw in a remote.
The problem with converging these devices into an all-in-one device is that you invariably end up with a jack-of-all-trades, master of one (yes one not none, as it will usually still perform it’s original task very well). This leads to some level of convenience, true, but in a two-steps-forward and one-step-back-and-to-the-side kind of way.
True, the cellphone will make great calls, but the PDA functions (address book, calendar, etc.) are barely adequate for a power user. This is mostly due to the way that you must imput information. The whole keypad thing is okay for quick notes, but is not nearly efficient enough for frequent use. And let’s not discuss the “quality” of the images you get from those cameras.
Conversely, the PDA performs all of the organizing functions flawlessly (mostly thanks to a better input system), but the camera is, yet again, sub-par. You gain extra features over the cellphone like a platform that will actually install and run programs of your choice. But you loose the ability to make call.
The cellphone/PDA devices are supposed to combine the best of both worlds. You get the ability to make calls, and the flexibility of a full-featured PDA. Well, that’s all fine in theory, but reality falls a little short. The PDA (which needs a larger screen and, therefore, a larger physical size) is awkward to use as a cellphone. And how often to you enjoy cleaning the screen? I have to clean my cellphone screen after most calls. I can’t imagine doing it frequently for a PDA size screen. And we still haven’t fixed that camera issue.
The Media Center PCs present their own problems. How well do they function when someone is recording a show. A lot of disk activity like that will cause some performance hits. And how many people have their computer in the living room?
Now you might be reading this and think that I am against device convergence. Well, I am not. I am actually looking forward to the day that I only have to carry around one device. I do not enjoy lugging around a cellphone, PDA, iPod, camera, thumb drive, and any other digital device I use on a semi-regular basis. The problem I really have with all these devices is syncing.
If you’ve ever lost a file because you accidentally copied an older version over a newer version then you understand the importance of syncing your devices. The problem is that not all devices sync the same way, or sync at all. The problem is that you have to remember to sync. And the more information you are syncing the longer it can take. This is why I am always forgetting to sync.
Why is it in today’s increasingly networked society, my devices don’t truly network with each other? Sure they can talk to each other for a while, but why must they continue to operate like seperate systems that get together for coffee once in a while and compare notes on what they’ve been up to? What I want is access to my files from wherever without syncing. Actual live access to the file, not a local copy.
What I am proposing here a kind of a paradigm shift in how we use our computers and handheld devices. Not a huge one, just a little bump really. Bussinesses already do some of this stuff. They have all the computers set to access files from a local server. All I want to do is apply this to the home front and add my handheld to the mix.
Basically, I think that the home of the not-to-distant future will work more like a business does. As more and more people add computers to their homes, and many families now having two or more computers at home, it makes sense to set up some kind of file server. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy as it won’t be handling thousands of requests per second or anything so an older computer should do fine. Load it up with hard drives and put it on the network. now all of your computers can access the same files. No more worrying about copying the old version and so forth.
Now suppose that we possess a handheld with near constant Internet access. This can be accomplished using either WIFI or today’s 3G cellular service. Most likely it will be a combination of the two. With an always-on connection from our handheld it would be trivial to set up a VPN that allows us to access our home network, and consequently our files.
What I am talking about here is really more of a service than a product per se. What I envision is a world where I have access to my files (all of my files) from anywhere. What makes the iPod so popular (among other things) is that you can carry all of your music with you. The large hard-drive in a portable device allows you to take a large amount of data with you. Why restrict this soley to music? Yes, I realize that the iPod will let you carry any file you choose, but it doesn’t let you do anything with it until you hook up to antoher computer. Why can’t we have access to all of our files?
Imagine, if you will a digital Utopia. Here there is a high-speed, wireless network that connects all devices together. Why carry all your files with you? Why not simply access them over the network and work on them locally, wherever that my be. When you are done, simply save it and when you pull it up next time (from a different device) the changes are already there, because you are accessing the exact same file.
Why carry all your music files on a hard drive, when they can be streamed over the network. And why stop at music? Why not broadcast TV over this network, and not just to your handheld. Have the TV hook up to the network as well. Once that’s done it’s a snap to stream the home movie you are editing on your computer to your TV to show off to friends and family. Of course, who says you have to stream it to your TV, why not stream it directly to their TiVo so they can watch it at their leisure?
Why store a photo on a flash card? Especially since you will just have to sync it up later. Why not have the picture automatically saved to your photo library so that it is instantly available to all of your networked devices? Snap a shot on location and have the graphics department back at the office add it to the new layout before you pack up your gear.
And did I mention that you can take a phone call while doing this. Imagine receiving a call from the office. You answer your handheld (via Bluetooth wireless headset, no oily screens for you) and the boss needs you to make a change on the presentation that is happening after lunch. You are on lunch right now and you would never make it back in time to make the change. No problem, while still on the phone with the boss, you access the presentation on your handheld. You make the changes, as he dictates them to you. You save the file, hangup, and get back to your steak sandwich, maybe listen to some music while surfing the Internet.
Okay, I am done rambling for now. I hope that I have not bored you to tears with my endless prattle. I just get these ideas in my head sometimes and I have to get them out or my head explodes. And that is really quite a mess to clean up.
I suspect that someday, this service may actually be available. And when it is I will be one happy camper. No more syncing. No more collection of devices. Just simple access to everything you want.
Posted by Compendiums on 01/27 at 08:20 PM
Digital images are composed of thousands or millions of tiny squares called picture elements, or pixels for short. Each square has its own color assigned to it, and the compilation of all of these little colored squares allows for images to appear smooth when viewed at original size.