Personal LAN

I want the Bluetooth dream, now.

I want my (future) iPod to wirelessly send audio to my home stereo, car stereo, and phone headset. I want these devices, in turn, to control the iPod. Then the iPod becomes my “music manager,” aware of my listening habits through all of life, and able to adapt accordingly.

I want my car, appliances, and laptop to be controlled by my phone. Most importantly, they need to be aware of my presence and state (mood). They can use it to notify me of items that need attention. The phone can be the “Hans manager,” and decide when to talk to me, jump up and down, or just wait for me to ask what’s up.

I want my bike computer to broadcast data about my riding. Maybe the iPod will notice that higher cadence should be met by faster music. It could take it a while to notice the correlation, but coordination with other data sources could shorten the learning curve.

I want my camera to share pictures, and ask if any other devices have some context they’d like to provide for storage. If a GPS pod is nearby, the image will be stamped with location metadata.

This is the dream of ubiquitous personal data that Apple shared for the Newton OS, long before Bluetooth, Jini, or any other of the enabling technologies that have surfaced in the decade hence. I can’t believe I’m still waiting.