Recently I was out of town on vacation – so my internet connectivity was limited to my Palm Pre smartphone.  With this smartphone I had access to e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Pandora – even Amazon MP3.  I already use the phone extensively for e-mail – which is why I switched to Gmail.  Other than for some writing I really didn’t open up the laptop.  Then again, the smartphone had connectivity but the laptop didn’t (which makes it much less useful).  I was actually a little surprised by this – as often I’m quite attached to my laptop…

One day on TWIT I heard Leo Laporte going on about this iPad – indicating that he had less need for his laptop now that he had his iPad.  I was somewhat unconvinced of this – as I wasn’t that impressed by the iPad myself.  After my experience over the long weekend I started re-thinking this.  Sometimes I use my phone instead of the computer as it’s just more convenient – sometimes going to my computers can be an exercise in patience – as they take a while to boot up, lock up, etc (especially my desktop lately).

Then I read this article on CNN Money yesterday – which questioned the future of the desktop PC.  Things are becoming different – tablets are becoming the real deal, smartphones are very usable, netbooks are popular and most people want to buy a laptop over a desktop.  The internet also changes the nature of computers – as they feel useless without any connectivity.  I get antsy without Internet connectivity.

So what will the future be like?  Will we have the Dick Tracy phones (the iPhone 4 is introducing video chat)?  Will have the Star Trek pads?  Or will computers just become something cool and useful?

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