I agree that we’d like an immersive environment for viewing and that the physical combination of a tiny screen with a computer is not an ideal means of delivering this. But I suggest that the ideal means is something like a pocket PC (or watch PC or cellphone PC) with a wireless connection to a pair of sunglasses that include a heads-up-display.

I don’t want to share someone else’s immersion at the dentist’s office. I don’t want to wait in line at the pay phone (have you seen any pay phones lately??). I certainly don’t want to log onto my son-in-law’s computer to pull up my web-based profile. I want my computer with me always. Maybe ultimately as an implant. So I can talk, research, play, and yes, read a book, whenever I have the time and the mood strikes me.

Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com

As things stand now, when my wife and I travel to my in-laws for the holidays I always bring my palm pilot, laptop and the related accessories. My wife brings her iPod Shuffle. My palm contains a copy of my schedule, contacts, music I like to listen to, ebooks, and a few games I can play if I get bored. I’m pretty sure that I would be lost without my palm.

This is a huge contrast to the future 10-20 years from now when we might be able to log onto my in-law’s computer and log into a virtual desktop of our own.

I wonder, however, if portable devices will still be desireable in a ubiquitous world. I’m thinking specifically of the Kindle ebook reader which has an always-on connection to the Internet. This is great when you are in the city or other heavily populated areas with cell phone reception, but not very handy if you find yourself in a more rural area or come upon a dead zone. Already there has been reports from owners of Kindles of times when they lose their connection to the Internet. They aren’t too bothered by this because they were able to access the books and other information that had been stored on the device itself.

My thinking is that a person in the future would still want to carry an abridged collection of their songs, ebooks, and other files, for those times when they lose signal.

This concept is similar to the carry-on bags that everyone brings with them when they travel via plane. They’ve packed their toiletries and a spare change of clothing in that carry-on just in case their luggage is misrouted. And Murphy’s Law tells us that anything that can go wrong will.

Even in the future Murphy’s Law will influence our desire to be able to carry our most prized files in our pockets.