on the state of convergence

recently, i flew out of SFO domestic to go home to Boston. the last time i was at the airport was when i went to japan last april. the airport is a rare place where everyone so many different people converge at one place. there is inevitably waiting of at least 30-45mins. in this time, you can see what people do with themselves when they have nothing to do. more so than ever before, i have seen people from all different backgrounds juggling multiple electronic devices. this was not so just a year ago.

everyone of course had their cellphones, but it was interesting to see how people were using them. admittedly, i have no idea what were actually doing because i didnt try to stalk anyone. i did notice, however, that they were glued to their cellphone screens typing away. i am assuming that they are texting or chatting online. a smaller percentage of people were just blankly staring at their screens. i have no idea what they were doing. there was also the plethora of ipods and laptops being charged in the wall. it has always been like this (well, ever since the ipod came out anyway). the surprise was the number of devices per person. you would see people with 2 ipods, a cellphone, and a laptop all being charged at the same time. it was a nightmare trying to find and outlet. people were sharing outlets to charge up their devices. it was wonderful and alarming. there are rows of booths they have for paid internet access. they were all filled with people not using those computers, but rather using the seat and outlets for their own personal computers and devices. all these people were between the ages of 13 to 35 i'd guess. everyone older had their cup of coffee and book at the ready. then you of course have the businessmen with their nondescript cellphone and ibm/lenevo thinkpads yelling "sell!" and "buy!" into their phones.

i gathered two things from my time here at the airport today. the first is that battery life on devices suck. they really do. everyone knows this. it is a wonder how moorse's law has been true for most everyone electronic except for battery life. i am guessing though that there is not enough drive for it in the consumer market. its one of those things that people dont think they care about, but if they had it, then they'd realize how much they had needed it all along. my guess is that once mobile devices become more integrated into everyone's lives, then they will start crying about battery life.

lastly, it is abundantly clear that everyone wants mobile device convergence. it is no longer for geeks and pedophiles as they say. even your average soccer mom can benefit from a blackberry. companies are starting to realize this and high powered mobile phones such as the Nokia N95 and Apple iPhone are the first to answer the call. people want to check their emails, chat with friends, share media, and browse the web from their phone. not only do they want it, but they want it to be easy and they want it right fucking now. everyone who has reservations about people's need or desire for such a device is fucking retarded and should get out of the industry right now. there is no room for you in this world. go back to your fucking farm.

it is a disappointment in this age to not have that type of device. i dont know what people are doing. it baffles me. it is no longer just about software. it is a consumer product and everyone in the position to build such a product doesnt seem to have the resource for the design, hardware, and software excellence to produce. i hope things change soon, or the people are going to be pissed.