The coming of age of smart and powerful mobile computing  My prediction is that it will not be the likes of Kindle, as designed today, but a modified form of iPod touch, or similar true mobile computing devices that will prevail and become standard in the future. This mobile computing device will be slightly larger, perhaps about the size of a very small pocket book — but too large really to place in the pocket but convenient enough to stuff into a women’s bag, a student’s, traveller’s or hiker’s back pack, an executive’s briefcase, or such similar contraption. And one that will not kill your back.  With advances in computer chip technologies, there will be more powerful smart chips for even the most complex computing needs, and also vast disk storage. An iPod touch like mobile computing device might also benefit from other technological developments, like the possible emergence of the “white space” band released from the universal conversion to HDTV in the US, so that wireless connectivity would be almost “universal” in urban areas. Wireless connectivity via sattelite may extend this wireless connectivity even in rural and remote areas.  The aforementioned development will free the iPod touch or similar mobile computing from the limits of connectivity via the internet. In a sense, such mobile computing devices will be the true competitor of smart phone devices like the iPhone. Viewed from a different perspective, this may be taken as the iPod touch and similar mobile computing devices, to be the “universal phone” for everyone who do not like to be impeded by the restrictions of current wireless telephone companies.  Wireless cell communication has proved to be the demise of the prohibitive long distance landline phone calls (and landline services, as a result) — now it is possible to call or receive calls across the globe at a very cheap or virtually no cost. Such a similar shake up might again come sooner when “internet telephony” or when the current restrictions of the current telephone companies, will no longer impede voice communication using these smart mobile computing devices.  What would emerge from such developments would be very powerful movile computing devices with multiple functions — a computer, audio and music, voice communication, video, camera, and whatever might be conceived by every dreamer in the world that can then be shared (free or for a price) via excnange sites, like that of the Apple’s Apps Store.  When the day comes, you can truly say that you have the world in the palm of your hand.  Students no longer have to be saddled with heavy backpacks of books. College students may find foreign the annual rite of buying all those costly books at the beginning of the year, only to sell them at the fraction of the price when school ends. Teachers and students need not be limited by the confines of the physical classroom. And more important, the process of formal education and learning need not end during the last class of the day nor end when we leave the portals of academia.  Think of the health and biomedicine environment where doctors and patients alike would have less worry of incorrect prescriptions that could have complications, as it all the information about drug interactions, and impact on current health of the patient can be accessed and reviewed via these smart mobile computing devices. When used properly, an educated patient might also have more active input about personal health by having greater ease of access to information.  There are more examples of potential future developments that comes with the coming of age of smart and more powerful mobile computing.  What could be possible and what could be done would be limited only by the capacity of the human mind to dream.
Amazon.com’s new Kindle application for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch lacks key functionality, including an easy way to buy electronic books.