Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:56:52 -0400
From: "Mike B." <yahoo at omniphile.com>
To: wsfa-forum at yahoogroups.com, WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Technology Marches On !
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

On 4/14/2013 5:12 PM, Michael Walsh wrote:
> On Sun, Apr 14, 2013 at 3:38 PM, Mike B. <yahoo at omniphile.com> wrote:
>> On 4/14/2013 8:56 AM, Michael Walsh wrote:
>>> http://i.imgur.com/nuUGHaY.jpg
>>
>> Pretty close on all but the laptop. While the phone probably has a more
>> powerful processor than that particular laptop has, the software it is
>> running is aimed at users running simple apps, not programmers or more
>> capable applications, and the screen size is too small for many uses
>> anyway. Yes, you can read e-mail and check the price of something in a
>> store, but try designing a kitchen, writing one of those simple apps, or
>> even a novel on it and the deficiencies appear instantly.
>
> Indeed.  It's more of all the things wrapped up in one package that I
> find fascinating.  Granted, that one package really doesn't all of
> those things all that well, but using our wonderful imagination ...
> who knows what the future holds.

If you are looking for things that smartphones can do, that stuff just
scratches the surface.  Mine is also a GPS unit, map, calendar,
stopwatch, timer, videophone, telegraph (text), book, magazine, wall of
world clocks, appointment secretary (that I can dictate to to set up
appointments), photo album, video player (for streamed commercial video,
not just stuff I shot myself), calculator, record store, mail order
catalog, notebook, terminal (for access to networked computers), weather
station, synthesizer (musical instruments), crossword puzzle book, chess
board (and opponent), language tutor, classified ads list, sound-effects
generator, library,...and a phone.

And that doesn't count the functions that didn't really exist prior to
the smartphone...like a traffic-aware route planner, weight loss
tracker/adviser/calorie data source/calorie counter, local information
source (local to where I am at the moment that is), friend tracker,
phone location finder, etc.

And that's just *my* smartphone.  There are hundreds of thousands of
apps I don't have or need that extend the capabilities in many other ways.

> I recall sometime ago asking in regards to art shows and the
> requirement that cameras be checked "What about cell phones" and now
> one has the ability to quickly take a "photo" of a piece of art and
> put it on a website fairly quickly.  And the image will be reasonably
> good.

My iPhone takes pictures as good as the ones my Nikon DSLR takes.  It
isn't as flexible about things like depth of field, focus, zoom, etc.,
but the resolution, color, and other quality factors are in the same
range...and it's far more portable...and does video too.

> Look out future, here we come!

Look again...we're there.  Dick Tracy eat your heart out.

Next stop is implantable devices powered by blood sugar. "If we are
going to talk much longer I'll need to eat a candy bar..."

-- Mike B.