Warning: Explicative language involved

[Jon 'maddog' Hall]

Recently I was working on a project, and I ran across this article:

[Warning: Explicative language involved]

http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/11/two_simple_word.html

And I started thinking about what exactly meets that criteria of:

[Explicative Language] Cool?

In the field of computers, or the application of computers what would really
get you going?

As it says in the article:

        "I don’t want their reaction to be a measured, rational,
        dispassionate analysis of why the product is better than the
        alternatives, how the cost is more reasonable, feature set more
        complete, UI more AJAXified. I don’t want them to pause to
        analyze the boring feature comparison chart on the back of the
        box."
        
        "I want that pure sense of wonder, that
        kid-at-airshow-seeing-an-F16on-afterburners-rip-by-so-close-it-makes-your-soul-shake
        reaction, that
        caress-the-new-Blackberry-until-your-friends-start-to-question-your-sanity
        experience. I want an irrational level of sheer, unfiltered,
        borderline delusional joy."

So what type of computer products, services, capabilities, would make you
feel that way?

I had a couple to start us off:

        F***king cool to me is pulling the plug on my server and everything keeps
        working.  Better yet, the whole power panel goes out and my
        wireless PDA still has its web server getting fed data.
        
        F***king cool to me was hearing about the "follow-me" computing
        at DEC in Cambridge where the "active badges" (now replaced by
        Blue tooth phones) allowed people's phone calls, instant
        messaging, data files, etc. follow them around as they moved.
        
        F***king cool was the first time I saw wearable computers with
        heads up displays that I could do computing everywhere.
        
        F***king cool was the old "three tier client/server computing
        where John Donovan would have his software people make a
        client's application overnight to the client's specification.
        
        F***king cool was always taking a slow-running job and making it
        work 100 times faster, if not 10,000 times faster
        
        F***king cool are gumstick computers, so small that they
        resemble a stick of wriggly's gum.
        
        Asterisk is F***king cool, it just is.  It isn't just the
        application, it is the fact that you can modify it to meet
        different needs.
        
        Wireless networking is really F***king cool.  I can go out on my
        lawn, down by the pond and still keep working.
        
        StarTrek "workstations" were always F***king cool.  Sure, you
        had your personal communicator, but Seven-of-nine also had
        "navigation" where all the tools for navigating were there.
        "Bones" had his tricorder and sprays, but he also had his
        "Workstation" in sickbay.  The Bridge was a series of
        workstations.  You never saw Spock running over to the helm when
        he wanted data, he always was at his "science officer's
        station".  Real *workstation*s (not stupid PCs) are
        F***king cool.  They have the tools that help you do your work.
        
        It would be really F***king cool to be able to be any place I
        want to be and still have it like I was sitting at my desk.
        Telephone, computing, access to data, people finding me when
        they need me, all at a price I can afford.
        
        
So what do *YOU* think would be F***king cool?

md