This TWANGED a chord with me in the pension queue this morning.
No. First out, I’m not a benefit fraud and I don’t want the light of the mysterons chasing me down like in the Government adverts. I was just delivering some parcels out to my family.
In usual old person style, a few grannies were discussing none other than the stereotypical price of cheese and what the hell is a “myPod” and “I saw your daughter with another man last night”.
But someone’s topic really pricked my ears up. “Pretty soon, we’ll be getting our pensions online and I’ll have to check it on my computer. No more chats with you Dedrie” (Please note, names are replaced for the privacy of the individuals)(Please also note, names are replaced with horrifically obvious old-people names). Which honestly. Kudos. Before you didn’t know how to program your “myPods” to record the latest episode of “Twin-peaks”, but now you’re confident about checking you moola’ online. That’d give Stephan Fry something to Twit about.
Anyways…… It bought up an interesting dissection of today’s (Wednesday, December 2nd 2009) current interaction with computers. Right now, the idea of a computer is still a box, sat on your desk at home. Never mind the uber computers in the technology around us, the phone, iPods, Printers, Ovens, Airwick room smellerfiers… (the last one is nearly a lie, but I’m sure it has a microprocessor).
The computer on our desk, or the laptop burning our lap is still the main way of checking up our email, banking online, messaging, photos and gathering information. Meaning, in a lot of instances you are the only person involved with checking that information. No one is queuing behind you. And, as you are the only person needing to carry out those interactions, it’s not shared experience like being in a the pension line. So checking the computer is solitary, meaning no more chats with Enid in the queue.
This might all seem pretty obvious, and it is. YAWN. So why am I writing about it? It’s taken me 40 minutes, and I’m meant to be in work talking about Bluetooth, WordPress and surprisingly, learning to juggle.
Well, because, I’ve seen the future. Yes, today’s computers are a very lonely experience. But as chips get weenier and weenier, more pervasive concepts like wearables, MIT, Simon Games, Micro$oft Surface, iPhones are being realised, from concept to your shelf. All of which could offer a personal or a shared experience. But more importantly. Aren’t tying you to your desk or currently aren’t sterilising your lap.
They are devices that can perform all the functions of a modern computer, but still allow a user to be away from the desk and stay nearly social. You can check anything on the move. They can have access to the World Wide t’Interweb at any point.
We’re no longer needing to be inside, checking our laptops and going crazy looking into the 15″ square light-box. Myself and Enid will be able to check her pension wherever she likes, so we could be checking over for a nice cup-o-tea in a cafe or a game of chess at the park.
Yes peoples. Our social skills are on the mend thanks to pervasive computing. And No, I do not fancy grannies.
Grannies are the Future
This post is tagged devices, enid, future, grannies, iphones, MIT, pervasive, simon games, social skills, stephen fry, twanged, wearables