SoulPad sounds like a great concept, basically its having a portable storage device with a users settings, applications, files, OS, the works. Today I found this SoulPad demo video which covers the concept running on an iPod photo.
When I first heard about SoulPad I was quite excited, but after thinking about the direction I feel technology like this is going, I think IBM have missed the ball on this one. To me this concept would have been a great thing if it was implemented 5 or so years ago but its 2005 and very much a web world.
These days it’s all about the browser. This is why Microsoft were so keen to kill off Netscape back in the day, why they are making IE7 now, and why they see Google as such a threat. With the endless range of services, which were once restricted to the desktop, now available online, it’s just a matter of time before even the grand daddy of software, the OS, becomes a web based service.
Just imagine how convenient it would be to have everything available all the time, always up to date, and never requiring a user to have any technical skill to upgrade. I guess it would be a bit like the Microsoft Passport service on steroids.
To me a web based solution is far superior to a portable storage solution. I base this mainly on how often I lose my keys, wallet, and phone. If I have a device with all my data on it, and I can’t find it, or worse I break it, I would be without my life until I get a backup restored… assuming I have one.
With a web based solution I wouldn’t have this problem and that would sure make me feel a whole more confident my data was always available and secure.