My friend Jessamyn was interviewed by The Setup, which asks people (it’s nerd-heavy, but not not nerd-exclusive) about the tools they use to do their work. I usually gloss over the tools people use and dive into the tools they want. Here’s a peek at my Jessamyn’s answer (and my current fave):
I want to be able to flip through 1000 documents as quickly as I could flip through the same amount of paper. I want to keyword search my memory and have a list of every website that I’ve ever loved accessible via my neural network. I want my computer to sing me to sleep and raise the curtains just before it’s time for me to get up and hold my calls until I’ve had coffee. I want a murphy bed in every room that disappears into the ceiling.
Damn, this is exactly the type of stuff I want. I love that she didn’t say “a MacBook Air”. Here’s some more from me:
- I want to be able to tap on an actor in a movie and find out what else he or she has done.
- I want ubiquitous video conferencing in offices that makes it feel like you’re actually in the room together.
- I want a collection of every photo taken of me or that’s relevant to me.
- I want the Gootch (or anyone, really) to give me things before I know I want it. “Hey, you seem to be reading a lot about video games. This blog is by a friend of a friend and we’re pretty confident you’ll like it.” “Based on online purchasing, it looks like your friend Bob is coming to town. You should invite him to join you at the Liam Finn show.” It’s only creepy if you don’t want it.