Easter, Mobile Tech, and on the Road . . . Again!

Happy Easter, all. I am once again traveling south towards NYC on business, and reflected along the trip on how mobile technology has changed the way we work and live. While traveling, I was able to update my progress to family by calling from my vehicle using my cellphone with a bluetooth link to my GPS (in the past, I would have had to find a pay phone, stop, and call from there). That same GPS provided spoken directions and even updated those directions whenever I strayed from the chosen path, such as when I stopped to shop (in the past, I would have had to wrestle with paper maps - NOT a safe task while driving but often done). I sent text messages to friends to let them know where I was and Twittered a few updates, as well (in the past, ???? - I guess that same pay phone or they would just hear about my trip when I got back). I took a photo of the traffic backup at a toll booth, using my cell phone, and emailed it to a friend (in the past, I would have had to take out a film camera, have the film processed when I got home, and mail a copy of the photo to my friend . . . about a week later). And I whiled away the miles listening to my favorite tech podcasts, Car Talk, and an audiobook, all through my car radio (in the past, I would have been stuck with the car radio, constantly switching stations as I moved out of range of the one to which I was listening, and the content would be limited to what I could find). On the trip down, I got current weather updates for my destination, my home, and my project work site so I would know what I was facing tonight, tomorrow, and the ride home Tuesday (in the past, I would hope to catch the weather on the TV news; in the not so distant past, I would have to wait until I arrived at a place with a computer and an internet connection). I was also able to view current traffic conditions for the road ahead (in the past, not available except by hoping to catch a radio announcer with a traffic update). All of this made possible by four small devices - a Treo smartphone, an iPod, a mobile GPS navigation system, and an FM transmitter. And this is just the stuff I did while driving South this afternoon. There is so much more that mobile tech enables for us and so many more uses I will put it through in the days ahead. Isn't mobile tech grand?