Convergence

These days everybody is talking about how handheld gadgets are engaged in sometimes blissful and other times hellish marriages which produce interesting offsprings.

People usually have their own ideas...and some have come to the market like the camera phone, the all-in-one PDA that does everything except save your soul from God's wrath. And at times people just ask for fun...what if we merged an iPod with a police radar detector?, what if my pacemaker could detect other people with pacemakers and we could take over the world?, let's take the psp (which is pretty awesome btw) and attach a wireless link to your car's steering wheel+webcam on dashboard...so now you can actually drive your car locked in the trunk.

I think there will be a natural balance achieved eventually. People will reject the superflous and accept the useful (aren't i so trustworthy in humankind's ability to select "right"...obviously they'll do the opposite of what i'm saying). But let's say people weren't dumb, then we'd resort to using a few devices that had multi-tasking abilities and other dedicated features. Most people would like to have a dedicated camera, but there are plenty which would like low quality quikie fotos. Others wouldn't mind having a psp like all-in-one media devices, but would abhor having it function as a cell phone..but would love if it could access the internet and their email. But what is this natural balance i speak of? I'm mainly referring to our ability to carry things with us. It is directly proportional to the number of pockets we have..and well..our posture. Cause carrying tons of accessories hurts our already bad backs in this sit-all-day-infront-of-computer age. We need to consider that we (from hence forth, i am refering to guys, since girls have the superpower of carrying a purse ala Batman's belt (yes, im opening up another thought bubble inside the first one. Just had a thought. Maybe Batman's belt is a Freudian-ish impulse of men due to their neglected purse-carrying opportunity in society)) usually carry a wallet and a set of keys and a cell phone.

The cell phone has been regulated to our belt clip. And unless its winter, the other two pockets are occupied. I know there are usually 4 pockets in total. But using the back pockets for anything is just insanely useless unless your walking. Who wants to sit on their wallet especially with the explosion in plastic cards (credit, debit and points) and ID's and gym memberships. At least back in the day they could use the backpocket, since all they had was paper. Nowadays, the wallet's also merging with coin holders, business card holders, pen holders etc.

My camera's case (a sony dsc-w1) can actually be attached to my belt..and ive done it a few times without much discomfort. Now, if i were to get a music player..where would it go? The shuffle is good for people with already too much..since its a lanyard that can be attached around your neck (human body realestate is a burgeoning market these days). But ofcourse, most mp3 players come with belt clips as well. So now that would be 3 things around my belt, along with my ever expanding waist. I don't know if Timmy can hold on (where Timmy = personified belt).

Yes, why not just change the clothes...adapt them to technology? Well, as some of you know, this has been tried for quite some time..and hasn't caught on. These so called "tech-clothes"..with extra pockets all along your pant legs..your arms. Not only is it the highest sign of geek-dom, but it won't work until you flood the market with just these clothes. If u faced with normal clothes..and then...uber-geek clothes with bad design. I think i know which one you'll choose. And even if u buy one pair, that means that if u need to carry ur stuff around, u can only wear that one pair..and all ur other clothes are useless.

I think the solution to all of this, is just to replace our bones with all these gadgets and link it to the brain. Instant gratification to infinity.

What inspired this post: Nokia thinks one isn't enough.