Saturday, March 5, 2011

Curious about the Future of PCs?

What's coming? Faster. More wireless. For the Future as of today, scroll down toward the bottom of this post.

The Future, as of 1992
Back in the early 90's, I quietly spoke of an email service that would mimic standard mail service - pay as you send (PAYS). Would it reduce or eliminate spam? Well, maybe the phishing scams. But if you look at the world of junk mail, you'll see it is an industry unto itself. I didn't call that one right - people would rather have free email. And junk mail will arrive, free or at a cost.
Now, This Year - What We Saw
At CES 2011 - that's the Consumer Electronics Show monstrosity in Las Vegas every January, which showcases new technology that's mostly cutting edge - Motorola showed off a cell phone that would connect to a laptop shell.

Here's the Atrix, with it's optional LapDock;  so you'd carry your cell phone and then plug it into this laptop-like docking station with keyboard and large screen. No more PC. Or, your phone is your PC.

Let the bleeding edge go out and buy it now. You can find it at Best Buy - I saw it online today for $199.99 with a 2-year contract with AT&T. The Laptop Dock is also at BB for $399.99.
 
I wonder if Windows Live SkyDrive and Microsoft Office Web Apps will work seamlessly on these Android based phones. Well, I'm not a beta tester, nor will I go out and buy one just to see if it works. There may be some compatibility issues and that's my caveat emptor.
 
The Future of the PC
How many of you want to get rid of the cables? The good folks that write the standards for our handy computer technology have been working toward a new, fast, wireless standard. No cables for:
  • keyboard
  • mouse
  • monitor!!
  • backup hard drive
  • speakers
Coming Soon - Like, Next Week
Apple & Intel have introduced Thunderbold, a new port that is 10Gbps fast - twice as fast as Wireless USB - but it has cables.
Now, USB 3.0 has been around for a year, but PCs and devices are only now showing up in in retail outlets. SATA2, SATA3? It should be around for some years to come, but don't expect ESATA to make a big dent, just like FireWire never delivered in volume. My money is on USB. For now.
 
So - faster & wireless? Or, even faster yet, but with cables? That is the ques...; no, that is the future.

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