Flexible smartphone screens

Are bendable smartphone screens really that useful? What practical purpose would they really serve? We can't yet reasonably make bendable circuitry or cameras. It also doesn't sound terribly useful for touchscreens either. Even if the curved screen is permanently curved, that just makes me feel like it would be difficult to keep in my pocket. I could see bendable screens possibly being useful in other applications, but not in smartphones. I'm hoping the industry will prove me wrong but, I'm not confident that they can.

#ldsconf

As I followed #ldsconf on twubs, I was surprised at some of the comments. Many were memorable phrases from the speakers. Some were witty stabs at certain beliefs. Others were random comments about the kid who was caught yawning on camera during the musical number. Watching people's comments often helped me think about what was being said from a different perspective. It was a refreshing experience and I do believe I will do it again in the future.

Online Collaboration

Online collaboration in the collection of data is the way of the future, but doesn't always seem fair. It's the social media of information. Whether it be for family history, support forums, Wikipedia, or other data stores, online collaboration is taking hold of society. Sites often find ways of encouraging people to participate and provide ways of recognizing people for their hard work and contributions. More and more, when people spend a few hours finding a solution to a problem, they will find somewhere to post it, and if it is useful enough, relevant searches to that problem eventually work their way to the top of the Google search list. This has created somewhat of a open source approach to information, but in some cases, it is making people a lot of money. Popular information sites put up ads and are making quite a lot of cache off of the hard work of the community.

Free Smartphone

With the pending release of a no contract and no monthly payment smartphone, anyone that has wanted a smartphone without having to pay for data now finally has an opportunity. This will have quite an impact on the app market, bringing the world of smartphone apps to a larger audience. Those who would love to tinker with Android apps can now do so with only a down payment on the phone. Whether through would-be developers or would-be app purchasers, the app market is about to get bigger. I myself fit into both categories. In fact I just signed up for the beta, and I know there are plenty of people like me that can now jump into the world of mobile computing. There is no guarantee that this free smartphone venture will succeed, but I am confident that if it does, it will have an impact on the market.