LIVING OUTSIDE of the range of GPRS coverage and without a hope of broadband in my temporary accommodation, I have become more dependent upon my peripherals. I'm using a scanner to digitise three banker's boxes of stuff. I'm using an external hard drive to catalogue my images, videos and sound clips. I have a sling sack with my Nokia 9500 and Fuji S602Z on my back when the craving for external data calls--but I have to walk away from the house to get a good signal or a good picture.
More than any other time in my life, a bog-standard computer is no longer the centre of my tech world. Something that connects me to my preferred stream of consciousness on the internet is most important. This is happening around the world and evidence. People are no longer compelled to set aside space for a desktop hog. Most would rather buy a pocket-sized device or a computer peripheral. Sales of mobile phones remain strong while sales of the Windows operating system have started to stagnate. I wouldn't expect any big change in this consumer trend, even with the launch of Windows Vista next year.
Ian Betteridge -- "Windows suffers as peripherals steal spotlight" in The Irish Times "Wired on Friday", July 29, 2005
Bonus Link: Mobile Read.
