Intimate Computing
Personal computing was a misnomer; the devices of that generation were never personal. Yet, this new computing age finally allows for our devices to not only be personal, but intimate.
Through a combination of software, hardware and industrial design, we are using products and services that have the potential to replace cherished items. The photo album, the diary, the scrap book can now all live digitally.
With the iPad, we finally have a device that we can hold in a similar way to a photo album. With Facebook, we finally have a digital service that can store our life stories just like a diary or a scrap book.
The new Timeline feature on Facebook will allow us to document our lives; highlighting the key stories that occur. Graduation, marriage, births easily recorded for future viewing. Imagine sitting down with your grandchildren and being able to scroll through a single page of your live with them, showing them your days at college or the place you met their grandmother.
Ignore all the media attention about the possible conflicts between Apple and Facebook; the two companies have the same views when it comes to technology. They advertise their products by focusing on the individual and not on the technology.
Technology alone is not enough
Steve Jobs - Apple Chairman
That quote may have been from Steve Jobs, but it could have easily come from Mark Zuckerberg or Chris Cox. I can’t wait to see how the Timeline develops over time.
We have reached a new age of computing. Forget this Post-PC mantra; we are now living in the era of intimate computing.
