Gates unveils his vision of a future made of silicon

Yes we have heard this before, but I'm beggining to think that we are often right in this kinds of predictions but wrong in the timescale and the exact form of technology that will deliver it.

Magazines and newspapers would eventually become redundant in their existing form, with interactive, personalised content delivered to handheld devices. "A lot of the reading that's taking place, the richness to be able to call up anything will take over," he [Bill Gates] said.

Thinking about the way I have begun to use my Palm device, I suspect he's right: I read .pdf's on it and have a set of daily offices on it [Lord's prayer pattern, of course, an example here], once I have internet connectivity set up I suspect that reading the Guardian Unlimited is likely to be a fave activity in breaks ... So, yes, I think it's likely. Could be interesting in worship because cheap portable, wired, screens make for interesting possibilities for shared visual info. [some universities are already experimenting with it for lectures and seminars], and if we can hook it up with truly interactive input [and some are already using mobile phones for this], it starts to make some interesting liturgical possibilities, n'est-ce pas?
Imagine icons which have prayers displayed and changing or moving across them, or prayer requests shared on screen, instantly responsive litanies, flash movies of candles with prayers attached being shared, stations for prayer interacting with content we bring or downloading content for us to take away [not just stations, of course].....
More ideas?
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