That Synching Feeling

I spent the holidays wrestling with mobile devices, and came to the conclusion that pretty much all the current offerings are unsatisfactory. Budget laptops weigh and cost about the same as a Winchester rifle, but are far less pleasing to own. iPads are fun, but you'll have to work if you want to import content except via the Company Store (a.k.a. iTunes).

The Android tablet I got from some points program is a nice toy and features (gasp) a USB port for easy content ingestion, but the software isn't going to meet anyone's business needs. I'm waiting for Playbook before I buy any more tablet style devices. The netbook is a nice idea, but I think getting the balance right between what's local and what's in the cloud is really hard.

I’m hoping that open platforms will give me greater access to content and functionality I’ve already paid for, but I’m not holding my breath. I remember once standing on a pontoon in Pearl Harbor and gazing down into the waters at the barely discernible shape of a dead battleship. So many hardware and software platforms end up looking like this.