Talking about spying...I'd love to know what the intelligence community is doing. In a way it's a heyday for them because they can walk ANYWHERE with a camera/video and no one would suspect a thing. Constant communications and surveillance and blend right in with the millions of others also on a portable device. CIA probably has smart phones with infrared detection built in. No doubt internal radios communicating directly with satellite, bypassing commercial data. Take photos anywhere, record conversations in cafes, and instantly upload to home base...no need to risk carrying physical date or to even leave the incriminating data on your device!
On the other hand, the other guys have the same advantage!
Imagine the old days when spies could be caught with a Minox camera or film...The film would only shoot one document page per frame...and if you were caught with a Minox or the film...pretty hard to deny what the gig was. Now, you're caught with a cell phone. Big whoop. You can fit half the archives of the Kremlin onto a microSD the size of my little fingernail.
The fact that you've got this device with 40 gigs of memory, externally swap-able, internet access, maps of the world (for most of the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, you could not get accurate maps of Russia...they were deliberately distorted...especially in Moscow), Google Earth (on a mobile!), HD camera and video, camera to pdf, voice recorder to mp3, FLAC or WAV, GPS, email, word processing, spreadsheets, HDMI output, FM radio, electronic books, entire libraries of music and photos, access to new sources, Pandora, Slacker radio, Netflix, integrated contacts and calendar, barcode and QR scanners...as well as phone (!)...for $200?! That's a fairly cool package in itself if you ask me.
I remember when a Texas Instruments calculator that could do four functions was several hundred dollars. A week's paycheck back then. (mid- 1970s). StarTrek had communicators (pretty much a nokia flip-phone, yes?) and we had Bell Telphone sets with the curly cord that always got tangled up. Remember trying to stretch that damn thing from the kitchen down the hall so you could have a private conversation.
I think we are going to see Android move to laptops and PCs soon. Already happening. I think we'll see high-quality flexible displays that can roll out or fold up. Meaning you can get a 10-12" touchscreen folded up into a pocket device. Already have this for keyboards.
Ultimately, as seductive and fun as this is, you have to ask "is my life better?". Are you and your family really happier and healthier? Cause in the end, that's way more important than any of this stuff. My opinion, anyway.
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