Conclusion
So what have we ended up with?
The core of the whole concept is the block. It's everything that you do and own that's digital, in your pocket. The sort of item that, if you left home without it, you'd turn around and go back. Whatever you're doing that's digital will always be via the same four panel interface, and you'd always be dealing with the same set of data so there are no synchronization worries.
With the possible exception of gaming, I think that everything that's normally done on a computer could be handled by this interface. The four panels cover all of the basic tasks of computing, like gathering or creating data and then arranging and sharing it.
As mentioned earlier, most of the design or visual elements would be fetched from within the operating system itself, even when fetching data from compliant websites. I see this as an enormous saving in the amount of data storage required. Naturally, users would have the option of changing the look through skinning (or as I like to call it, overlaying).
What about peripherals?
I see the interface having targets to represent such things as printers or external optical drives that are grayed out, but still receptive for queuing when not connected. The drivers would reside in the firmware of the external devices such as the desktop display.
One way to sell it in stages...
- Release freeware version with note-taking and scheduling functions only as an app that runs on an existing OS
- Shareware version with communication capabilities and browsing and HTML extensions
- Component authoring tools released
- Transparent site creation and maintenance
- Enterprise packages
- Turn users into small business owners
- Telephony integration
- PDA alliance
- Stand-alone OS including the block
- Low cost terminals