I <3 my smartphone

Posting this draft, which I wrote on 1/4/2010, today 1/31/2023....

If you are wondering why I "less than 3" my phone, turn your head to the right, and look again, thinking of those sideways smileys.  Yes, I had to have it explained to me as well.  Those darn kids today...

A few weeks ago, I gave in to my inner child geek, and bought a Motorola Droid and data plan. 

I had been using a PDA of some sort for probably 10 years or more.  Being the forgetful and somewhat disorganized person I am, I loved having all my information available to me in a nice portable device.  Over the years I've went through many upgrades, and eventually, my PDA merged with my cell phone - the smartphone.

However, I balked at getting a data plan (Unlimited Internet access) because I didn't want to pay for it.  I told myself I could continue to do it the PDA way, download any content I wanted on my PC and synch it to the PDA.

But I did start to think that it didn't make sense to carry two devices, there was a lot of overlap in what I wanted from my phone and my PDA.  But getting a smartphone without a data plan was an expensive option.  So instead, I got a hand-me-down Motorola Q, and activated it on my existing cell phone account.  No data plan, it was pay by the byte, so I planned to basically never use it.

Immediately after starting playing with the Droid, I realized that this platform changed everything.  Having a phone, camera, GPS, Internet access, a microprocessor, and great software tieing it together opened up whole new worlds of possibilities. 

I have been having so much fun playing with my phone; I don't think I've enjoyed just tinkering with something to see what's possible since way back when I first discovered PCs themselves.

The things it can do are amazing.  I can hold it up and find out what song is playing on the radio right now.  Once I find out, I can purchase and dowload a copy of the song, then listen to it whenever I want in the future.  I can scan a barcode on a product in a store and find out if it's a good price or not.  If I don't know where I'm going, it will give me verbal turn by turn directions while I drive.  I always have access to my email and Facebook.   I can get my account balance, or find the ATM that is closest to me.  The list goes on and on.

In fact, I now enjoy using my phone more than a full PC.  I can definitely see a future where everyone just uses their phones for this stuff, and full fledged PCs once again become the domain of work and geeks.  PCs (really the microprocessor) have taken over, but I think we will see them integrate into our lives in much more streamlined and task-specific ways (in our phones, cars, and god forbid the refridgerator).  Why maintain a centralized, generalized, digital hub through which all information must flow?  I think we will see processing power decentralized even further, pushed into any device that needs it.  And the Internet will be the glue that holds it all together.