Well, as storage costs so little, why shouldn’t I?
we’re no back in those days, are we? I thought things were supposed to have moved on
Sure, I don’t disagree. But that said, you’ve still got a device that can hold half of your entire music collection and fit in your pocket. I dunno, you’re right of course, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s a little crazy that we’re then all sat here going “well, what about the other half?!” Memory is relatively dirt cheap, but I guess part of me is still fairly in awe that we’re anywhere near where we are at all.
Smartphones have come of age in the last couple of years, and are finally starting to deliver on the promises made by the old Windows Mobiles, Palms and Psions. Every time I’ve bought one I’ve thought, this is it, this will change my life, and usually been crushingly disappointed. Finally, I think it has.
This week I’ve been in London. Before leaving the flat, I can get up-to-the-second bus timings on my phone to see what’s due at the stop outside. I see that there’s a bus in a minute and another in ten. I know that I’ve no chance of making the first but can finish my coffee at my leisure and still easily make the second. On the bus to the Tube station I don’t know how to get to where I’m going but I can fire up a Tube route planner. It tells me the optimal route, taking into account engineering works which mean I have to take a bus replacement service. I text my OH and let her know the time I’ll be arriving. Once at the Tube, the platform signs are down, but that’s ok because TFL expose this information to an API; to wit, there’s an app for that. I know now there’s a Tube due in two minutes.
On the tube, it’s a boring ride, so I stick my headphones in and settle back with some music and an eBook.
At my destination stop, via the bus replacement which was easy to find thanks to the transport guide, I use GPS powered mapping software to work out how best to walk to where I’m going. But I remember, my OH wanted me to pick up some stuff from a chemist, so I search the map for the nearest Boots. There’s three nearby, and I need a bigger store rather than just a corner pharmacy, so I pull up photographs of each storefront to see what they look like. I walk over to the largest, and on my way I check for any offers they’re doing, getting a code for 10% off my next purchase.
I leave Boots, and spot an awesome looking statue opposite. I think, my photography-geek mates would love that; so I take a picture, hit a button and upload it to Twitter, where anyone there who knows me can see it instantly.
I hook up with my OH. I’m a few minutes late, but I was sharing my location so she could see from her phone that I was only round the corner. We’re going for dinner, and in the mood for Italian, so I pull up a list of Italian restaurants, ordered by distance from my current location. I can see one a couple of minutes’ walk away but I know nothing about it. I go to their website to check the menu (yes, they have a reasonable veggie selection), then go to a reviews app to read what people have to say about it. Mediocre food, terrible service, the one across the road is far better. Good job we checked, we’ll go there instead then.
All this from a little black box in the palm of my hand. Man, I love living in the future.
