While having GPS will be nice, it’s the 3G data access I’m most looking forward to. I’ve already started to browse the apps store looking for productivity apps, and I’ve upgraded to Flickr Pro which I’ll be using to share my mobile pics.

Some of the apps that have really stood out so far are Evernote, Wordpress, reQall (speech-to-text!), and Wikipanion. I’m still waiting for a good turn-by-turn navigation app. I’ve heard that the soon to be released 2.1.0 iPhone firmware might add this. I hope I can add the John Cleese voice … OMG they have Mr. T! “I said turn LEFT you FOOL!”.

But remember, even Limbo robots are dangerous, because they’re made of metal, and robots are strong:

Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Netbooks (Asus EeePC, MSI Wind, etc) are not as feature-rich as those high-end subnotebooks. But for most “typical” people netbooks will fill 80% of their needs. Plus they’re really cheap. Perfect second computers.

But my dream second computer is still yet to appear. My iPhone handles most of my comms needs, but I still would like an A5 sized, touch/wacom-digitizer screen that has a browser and an Alias Sketch like app to replace my Macbook. Oh, and it should cost less than $500.

I don’t know if there are enough people like me (who go through at least 4 sketchbooks a year) to support a device like this. So I might have to wait another 10-15 years for on-demand custom designed gadget printing to appear. Or maybe if the Techcrunch gadget takes off, enough people like me will get together and crowd-source it into existence.

I still use my workstation for work, and I wouldn’t think of ditching it for something like an iPhone (yet).

But the fact is, unless I’m at my workstation, I use my iPhone to surf the web. I would say if you looked at all the hours I spend online, minus work, the majority of it is on my iPhone. That’s an interesting change.

If Apple modified their NDA requirements on iPhone development I would be all over it. The device provides a really compelling experience, offers live data acquisition (position, light, gps sensors), ubiquitous network connectivity, and a fairly efficient (if a tad too strict) software market. It’s the start of something really great.

In the next few years there very well could be 50 million iPhones in use. That’s something awesome.

This would be a good move for Facebook, who has to constantly be aware that they can lose their users even faster than they got them. Facebook use in Canada is down from last fall when it was just exploding.

Social networks are ephemeral. They are not static and must be nurtured to grow. As these systems mature there will be a point where the “Parents” have to let them go out on their own, turning the private platform network inside-out and letting it grow free online.

This WILL happen. It must. MySpace was too overprotective of it’s network and refused to let it go free when it should have, now it’s not nearly as popular as it was when it was ready to leave the nest. MySpace is a 40 year old living at his parents house technologically.

I’m excited to see how opening Facebook might affect the social media wars in the coming months.

Just like Mosanto pays legions of lawyers and lobbyists to try and shape public opinion that they have a right to profit from natural process, the entertainment industry is doing everything it can to ensure that it has the control to profit from the natural sharing of culture.

You can do something. Write to Jim Prentice, Steven Harper and your local MP. Tell them that culture is public domain and you don’t want to hand over more control of it to corporations.

Of course my biggest question of copyright debate is this:

Why is the debate almost completely about controlling data that must be shared to work (like music), and almost not at all about data that MUST be controlled at all cost (like my social insurance number).

If you’re looking for a review of how we got where we are, click on to watch Larry Lessig’s BRILLIANT corruption lecture:

His copyright TED talk is great as well:

Every year I leave a few pairs of socks, underwear, t-shirts and sweaters in Poland. This way I only need enough clothes to get me to a laundry, which is 2-3 days max. I also wear my heaviest and bulkiest clothes when going from place to place.

This year we’re in London for a couple days, then we’re off to Tirol Italy where my parents have rented a house. My brother is meeting up with us for about a week of hiking and eating in the mountains. Then it’s off to Poland for a couple weeks with family and seaside relaxation.

Our airfare was significantly higher this year, probably due to high fuel prices. I wonder if we’ll be able to fly to Europe in a world with a $500 barrel of oil. At the current rate of increase that’s less than a couple years away. Montreal-London via sailboat?