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Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Converdgets

UPDATE: More converged gadgetry...

Anyone wondering what you'll be using to get your Internet fix in a few years' time?  I've been watching developments, and I see all these convergence trends.  Steve Ballmer says there are "three screens" and Microsoft is focusing on being on all of them, the mobile phone, the TV, and the PC.  But he's lumping PCs and laptops and PDAs together under the heading "PC," which isn't quite right.
I have a music player, which is quite smart, and has a screen.  But it didn't lock up on New Year's Eve, because it's not a Microsoft POS Zune.  I have a GPS which is running some form of Linux and has a screen. And I use VNC and Synergy routinely to access servers and other devices running other operating systems.  And many of those servers are sporting a little screen which is run by something in the machine BIOS...

Logitech and others are showing off gorgeous keyboards with a screen on them - and that's another device which is getting a screen.   Laptop makers are seeing a need to put an extra screen on their flagship lappies, thus turning their portable laptop back into a desktop unit with limited luggability.  (I'm calling these things by the horrible portmanteau name of "converdgets," until I think of a better name for them.)

The manufacturers are doing these sorts of things because we like the convenience, we're basically lazy, if we can get an extra screen instead of having to switch windows, we're all for it.  And we like the "gee whiz!" factor, let's be honest.

Expect to see a lot more convergdgets in the next few years, and I reckon we'll see many of them (or their predecessors) appear this year as manufacturers realise that we're lazy and gadget-hungry... %)

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