2008 Woodie Awards
Electric devices blending into new breed of gadgets
By Brandon Himes
Rocket Web Editor
Issue date: 12/2/05 Section: Life
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I'm not claiming to be above it. As a matter of fact I'll own up to the fact that I'm one of the biggest offenders of digital device overload. But what choice do you really have? If you have the luxury of owning these devices that supposedly enhance your quality of life, then you have to carry them or else their alleged value is lost to you. I use the term "alleged value" because marketing aside, these devices are only marginally more useful than they are a novelty. Be that as it may, the fact that we're accumulating so many of these devices is a problem.
The solution to this problem is to start making these devices do more than one job. This is by no means a new idea. Cell phones are also cameras. Gaming devices also play movies. The roles of our devices are beginning to become multifaceted and are taking on the roles that used to be performed by a separate device. Three prime examples of devices taking on multiple roles are the PSP, the iPod and PDA-cell phone combinations such as the Treo.
The most recently implemented example of a device taking on multiple roles is the PSP. Sony announced Tuesday that there is a new firmware upgrade to the PSP that will enable the handheld gaming device to play Windows Media Audio files and read RSS (really simple syndication) feeds. These features add to the PSP's out of the box features such as online gaming and web browsing in wi-fi (wireless fidelity) enabled areas.
Another example which has been around longer and is far more abundant than the PSP is the iPod. The iPods original function was to play and store MP3 files, the iPods of today have taken on other roles such as playing video, storing "podcasts" which are online content that is synchronized to the iPod for later viewing, and storing personal photos for display as a digital camera typically would. iPods can't download wirelessly or take photos yet, but watch out. The iPods coverage is huge and people don't seem to bat an eye at the $399.99 price tag so I predict some serious hardware and price tag increases in iPod's future.
