The Economist has an interesting survey on the future of the phone.

I'm not an early adaptor, and unlike the younger generation, I don't live with my cell phone--it's not an intimate and essential part of my life. I often forget to take it when I leave the house. Of course, this may be less a generational thing than the fact that I work mostly from home. When I'm traveling, I'm much more careful to keep it handy. But I wonder how many of these new developments won't be picked up by older generations unused to them?

It's also going to be a strange world, when most people are walking around seemingly talking to themselves like schizophrenics. We can still tell today because of the earpieces, but once they get smaller, or embedded in the body, it's going to be a lot harder for shrinks to tell the difference between people with imaginary voices in their head, and real ones.

[Update late morning]

I'm guessing from comments that my humor was a little too subtle today.

Two quick comments:

First, some people that are quite old can adapt reasonably well to new technologies that meet real needs of theirs. For example, my uncle who just died at nearly 92, got quite used to carrying a cell phone with him the last several years. Why? Well he was still able to drive and he carried his cell phone with him whenever he left his domicile. 90+ humans don't like to be stranded with even a flat tire. For that matter, I've gotten in the habit of carrying my cell phone with me for the same reason. I can run people much younger than me into the ground, but I never liked changing tires either. Now, courtesy of my cell phone and AAA, I don't have to worry about automotive breakdowns.

Second point: how many of you have actually seen people so mentally ill that they talk to themselves out loud? They're very easy to spot, even by techies, for lots of reasons. Much more difficult to spot are highly intelligent people who are mentally ill. They don't tend to engage in obviously bizarre behaviors. If, for example, your boss is a control freak, watch for behaviors that indicate some sort of compulsion or unreasonable fears. Also -- start job hunting. Control freaks are fairly destructive in organizations, especially if the organization is somewhat authoritarian in nature, as some organizations must be (e.g., military combat teams).

how many of you have actually seen people so mentally ill that they talk to themselves out loud?

Very few, and you can tell they are mentally ill just by the random assortment of rags and junk they are wearing.

When I see a reasonably dressed person without wild eyes and ragged beard talking into air, I assume he is talking on a hands-free set and do not give him a second glance. The word "schizophrenic" does not even cross my mind.

LOL, reminded me of this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9qZPMJPAbk

Personally, I can't wait until somebody develops a Bluetooth headset that uses the subvocal speech recognition technology developed at NASA Ames. It'd be nice for people to be able to talk on their cell phones without annoying everyone else around them.

The plot of the late 60s movie "The President's Analyist", starring James Coburn, involved the phone company taking over the world by GASP! implanting everyone with their own personal communicator in their heads. A metaphor for the loss of individuality to the hive mind. I often think of that movie when I see lines of drones marching along with one hand attached to their heads, yacking to themselves or driving their cars erratically about. People who are so afraid of the voices in their own head that they have to constantly be exchanging information with someone else, touching antennie to make sure they're still part of the swarm.

Sometimes I miss humor, too. This time it's perhaps because of the fact that one course in grad school actually took me one afternoon a week into a community mental health center where I actually saw some full blown schizophrenia. It was not a pretty sight.

When I see people decked out with their ear pieces I immediately think "Didn't some one tell them the Borg were the bad guys?'

Yes, I do have a sense of humor. Check out The Vulcan Ambassador Chuck E-mails if you don't believe me.