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At last, my dreams of a Star Trek reality are starting to come true!

Business Week: Nokia Corp. is introducing a handheld tablet for Web-browsing over a wireless broadband connection, the company’s first non-phone mobile device and the latest in a long line of attempts to create a so-called "Internet appliance" for quick online access around the home.

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If you have ever watched Star Trek you will be quite familiar with the computer pad tablets they use for everything from bedtime reading to what would be the equivalent of “web surfing” in the Star Trek universe. The tablets are basically very flat computer interfaces with a thin monitor and keypad. This new Nokia device seems like a step in that direction, although of course we are a long way off from Star Trek.

Presently I work at home in my office/bedroom which is in an upstairs room of the townhouse I share with two flatmates. The kitchen is downstairs so I find myself running up and down the stairs a lot to monitor my computer. Imagine though if we had little wireless pads that could be available in every room of the house or simply carried around with you. I’m pretty sure I’d be buying some of those for my house, especially if they were cost effective. Of course in the Star Trek universe these pads substitute not just for computers but also for television and video phones as well.

We already have services like blackberries, internet on cell phones, and other small Internet enabled handheld devices. Plenty of the notebooks I’ve seen Japanese students here in Brisbane use, which are not available in Australia, are getting smaller and smaller. Think Sony Vaio sized ultraportables but from no-name brands manufactured at half the price.

I’m still dreaming of the day that the cellphone is the computer. It has video phone capabilities, email and web surfing, music player, recorder, television, networked gaming - everything all in one handheld device you carry in your pocket or purse. This device will be the result of technology convergence, with the next evolution of services like Skype, current cell phones, wireless Internet and portable entertainment (like the PSP) all combining into a single device. It will be an all-in-solution to your technology, communication, entertainment and business needs.

But is this too much?

Already people are complaining that although humans are ever more ‘connected’ thanks to technology we are yet further apart because we don’t experience personal connections anymore. Everything is email, mobile phone and remote access. Sitting at a train station people are surrounded by other people but no one communicates directly, instead they use their phone, blackberry or laptop to ‘chat’ virtually.

I was recently asked whether I thought I needed psychological help because a lot of my life revolves around the web. It was asked ‘tongue in cheek’ as a joke but perhaps I do have a problem, a problem a lot of home based business people might have. I’m Skyping, emailing and podcasting all day, connecting with other people in many ways yet rarely leaving my home office.

I’ve considered purchasing a device like a blackberry so I can monitor emails on the go. My business requires that I watch my email 24/7 for incoming jobs. Being able to process emails on the run would mean I would never miss a deadline. It would be liberating, I could get out more, leave the office without worrying about checking my email.

But would this be fooling myself?

I would be ever more leashed to the Internet and the web. I’d sneak glances at my email constantly checking the web for stimulation. I already have perhaps an unhealthy need to check my email constantly. I’ve become addicted to the rush of a web sale and the Internet in general. When I leave my office this is the only time that I have away from the computer so maybe my dream of the ultimate portable device is a risky one. It might alienate me and many others altogether from the real world.

In my case I am not too worried. I know when enough is enough and I frequently leave the computer behind and head out into the real world and meet with real people. My body doesn’t let me stay glued to the screen for too long without complaining. Nature necessitates that we have some face-to-face communication at least once in a while. Plus I am fully aware that the most effective business networking is done face-to-face, it’s more personal that way and better for establishing real relationships. It’s human to want to be with other humans.

In fact all the things I mentioned previously that keep me indoors, blogging, podcasting and the Internet in general, have led me to meet many more people IRL (in real life). As a result of my technological connectivity my personal connectivity is improving. What’s even better is that I’m gaining more international connections and when I next head on an overseas trip I plan to make an effort to meet up with many of my new found web friends. In fact my itinerary might be influenced heavily by where I have contacts. I could not have made these contacts without technology such as Skype, online social networking and email.

While there are those people already trapped into constantly watching their blackberry and use their cell phones way too much I think as a whole communication innovations are going to bring us closer together. As with anything there are those that abuse things, become addicted and don’t know when to draw the line. In general I believe the population as a whole is mature enough to balance technology with real life and use technology to augment and enhance their communication and personal relationships.

Yaro Starak
Internet Evangelist