Bald Idea

I have never really understood why the free software people have been so enthusiastic about a clone of a 30 year old operating system with a 20 year old user interface. OK for servers but not what people want to run on their desktop. Surely it would be much better to have an OS designed from the ground up to handle video, music, 3D graphics, wireless connectivity, USB etc.

You might argue that the Linux kernel can handle all these things well now anyway, but there is no excuse for the truly dreadful X-windows based Linux GUIs. If Linux is ever to catch on as a desktop OS it has to ditch x-windows as the user interface and, like Mac OSX, get a modern, attractive, gorgeous GUI designed from the ground up to take advantage of the power and features of the modern desktop PC.

Free but crap has no appeal.

"Peak Oil" is the term used for when global oil production reaches its highest output level. After the peak everything is supposed to go pear shaped. There has been a lot of discussion, especially in the US, about when Peak Oil will be reached. I think that it is not the concept of Peak Oil that is important but "Not Enough Oil". Not Enough Oil is when demand for oil outstrips production. Not Enough Oil may have already happened and things may have already started to go pair shaped. Optimists may suggest that this will lead us to a green future sooner than if oil production had kept up with demand. Pessimists may suggest that the very fabric of western civilisation is at stake.

I seldom use my mobile to call people but mostly use data services and personal organiser features. My mobile has all but replaced my PDA but what I really want it to replace is my laptop.

My ideal mobile would have a projector keyboard so that I can enter data easily and a projector display so that it would not be constrained by the size of the phone. It would have a productivity suite of applications compatible with microsoft office and, of course, email and instant messaging. On the connectivity side bluetooth, WLAN, 3G, all bands and not forgetting IRDA (its amazing how many devices don't have this these days but I still find myself in situations where it is the only option).

My ideal mobile will have a battery that will last for two weeks on standby and at least three days of heavy use. A large amount of internal memory would be good but also support for memory cards is essential. I use the radio on my phone a fair bit so throw that in too. A camera will be essential for video calls. When placed on a desk it will turn the whole surface area of the desk in to a giant speaker for some decent sound.

Basically I want my mobile to do everything.