We try not to be mindless promoters of the next cool gadget. Really. That said, there are some technologies that represent a sea-change in the evolution of information management. They can't be ignored.

The mobile communications appliance we have all waited for debuted yesterday at MacWorld. As a result, Research In Motion's stock dropped about the same amount as Apple's climbed. If you have not seen the new iPhone yet it is worth taking a moment to visit the Apple website for a tour of its features.



The iPhone first is a beautifully designed piece of consumer electronics. It represents an evolution of the ideal that drives this remarkable company: think different and think simple (funny how billions of R&D investment can result in such a simple, easy to use device). In cultural theory terms, its lineage owes much to the boomer generation's embrace of a technological future as represented by Stanley Kubrick's seminal film, 2001. The black obelisk in that film - a perfect, black rectangle - represented in iconic form the combined intelligence of a superior race that through its technology begins the evolution of human intelligence (for you creationists in the audience the obelisk can represent god - your choice).


Image from, appropriately enough, Hackers At Large

Kubrick understood the maxim that sufficiently advanced technologies resemble magic. The iPhone is that technology. Its easy-to-use interface and high-res screen combine cellphone and a usable Internet browser in one small, elegant package.

Of course, since Canadians live in a no connectivity competition zone, very few of us can afford the ridiculous charges this phone will generate for Internet access. It is time for an upstart competitor - Virgin, are you listening - to throw open the doors to affordable mobile Internet access in this country. Maybe the iPhone will drive (...read more...)