How many of you remember the late seventies BBC TV series called “Connections”, hosted by James Burke? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series) ) This week I’ve had it resonating in my head big time as I put together two recent announcements.

1) Hot on the heels of a previous column, the big news this week is from “down under”.  Vodafone Australia has announced that starting in January they will give away a netbook computer with new 3G data contracts. A netbook is a very small laptop computer designed with portability and autonomy in mind – in this case it includes an embedded Vodafone 3G modem (Ericsson’s HSPA mobile broadband module, of course!), and

2)  In late October Google reached a settlement in a dispute with the Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers on how to handle royalties from digital copies of books on the web.  In essence Google will set up a registry and commercial infrastructure where books can be scanned, stored and their contents made available for searches, while authors and publishers can be paid if someone wants to read the whole document.  This means all books can finally be brought onto the internet, and once there stay available, potentially forever!

Now for a “connection” of positively “Burkeian” proportions:  Put these two announcements together and the world of written content begins to resemble that of musical and video content.  People will have access to not just all of the words that are important to them, but to all of the thoughts that come along with them NO MATTER WHERE THEY ARE!!!  Now link this to sound and video and provide mobility and we finally have the realization of Vannevar Bush’s Memex: an electronic extension to human memory (http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/bush.html ). 

The $64,000 question is “How can all this information be accessed by people so that they can find those specific bits of knowledge that are pertinent to their circumstances or desires?” This is where developers come in.  In a prior column I stated that services are more likely to find commercial success if they conform to and enhance typical human behavior, and to seek additional revenue opportunities by leveraging the context of the activity to anticipate what the user may want to do next. 

There are innumerable examples from science fiction on how the above capability might be applied, but I choose a more mundane example:  I want to build a patio deck.  I do a web search for how-to guides that include deck designs appropriate to my tastes and climate.  I purchase the text online, and after reading it I decide on which deck to build, selecting a pattern that matches my backyard decor. The book provides a list of materials I need, a construction plan and hyperlinks to videos of persons actually building the deck with advice on its placement on my property.  It also points to a service that uses the construction plan and my geographic location to identify any relevant regulation regarding the deck’s construction, prepares the needed permit applications, and sends them on to the appropriate authorities.  It then also lists local stores selling patio furniture, with locations shown on a map.

What do you think could be interesting services joining books to video, communications and mobility?  I look forwarded to seeing your posted responses.  BTW, here’s a big THANKS to Rogerio Ferraz, whose posted response for a Movies Navigator was an excellent example of a Web 2.0 service.


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The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author, and in no way represent Ericsson AB's official or implied position on the issues discussed.