Convergence

A couple of things caught my eye this week.

First, an "instant on" internet-based OS. I think it's this one, but I can't really recall. The premise is, you start your machine and within ten seconds you have 'net access.

The concept here is that your "real" OS boots in the background. But very often, why bother? And, what if you just want 'net access to get to the second item?

An Internet-based operating system! Now, whether it's really an OS or not is a matter of some debate amongst the geeks, but the larger picture is "who cares?" Have access to all your stuff in ten seconds? Who's going to need much personal power, except for the specialty niches, like gaming?

Now, take this keyboard emitter and wrap it in an OLED, stuff the whole thing in a cute little white quiver with a picture of a blue apple on it, and you have yourself the device of the future.

I first postulated the hardware end of this in the '90s and, eventually, you'll be able to pack that keyboard emitter and/or OLED with enough power that you don't need to run an internet OS on it. But I could see some combination like this being the netbooks of the future.