I meant that it was a watershed event in converting a phone into a true mobile computng internet platform…not that the penetration or acceptance was yet there. By my calculations (see: When does the future happen?) it is still 3-4 years off for more than 50% of the market to have iPhone like capabilities in their hands and using it. That’s a long time and assumes several generational price reductions of both hardware and access.

But with the SDK, the ground is laid for a speeding up of the adoption as utility increases.

Modern life does lead to an atomized and somewhat isolated existence for all of us and while these devices are very cool & Buck rogerish on one level, they are part and parcel of our isolation amidst the crowd and our futher atomization. (Blogging might do this as well. )

Mike

It’s an interesting thing about the etiquette of mobile devices. I must confess, I still think people look funny walking around supermarkets on their telephones. My husband and I make jokes about getting a cell phone and standing in the middle of Whole Foods having loud imaginary conversations with the CEOs of fortune 500 companies. I have noticed a tendency in cell phone users to speak very loudly in public, as though they are trying to get attention.

We were in the DMV the other day and hear this man answer his cell phone and loudly demand,

“Why are you always calling me to ask about that?!”

We got the giggles.

I continue to watch with interest the inward turning of urban civilizations. People stopped looking one another in the eye long ago in cities. Now they can completely absence themselves from their physical surroundings with their mobile devices. I can see the crowding and pressures of environment that make this appealing.

But where I can’t stand it is in the woods. People stride by us on their silly phones, yelling, “YAH, I LOVE BEING IN NATURE! IT’S SO QUIET HERE.”

Well…it was until they showed up.

Miriam

As for PacMan…Ah but just think of sitting in your favorite restaurant totally absorbed in a wii like experience and totally oblivious to the world around you? Doesn’t that sound appealing?

Mike

As you know, I am especially happy about that last point. This is truly the next generation of mobile applications if the capability of viewing the web as you would from a PC has arrived. Not having to design 2 websites (a real one and a dumbed down one for mobile) is a tremendous step forward!

However, as for playing PacMan…I still have my Atari 2600 for that, sitting not 10 feet away from me. I’ve got Adventure too, which is way cooler than PacMan!

Miriam