Along with those books from the title – you might as well add the Clay Shirky video from TED about Social Media and how the landscape is changing. That article in WIRED about how the Rise of the Templates is the beginning of the end of computing as we know it, it’s true. Anyone who doesn’t see it after reading that article, after watching the TED video, and especially after reading Daemon – isn’t paying attention.

There is so much exciting developments happening that no one single person can pin-point, but yet I sit here and I’m watching it unfold in front of me wondering why no one else is excited!? Maybe it is just me? Maybe I am that crazy technology guy that no one really pays attention to anymore because, “He’s out there.” Maybe you’ve already said that about me?

iPad, Gaming, Augmented Reality, thin/cloud computing, Wi-Fi/3G/4G/etc. everywhere, all these pieces coming together slowly and surely to bring us into the next age of awareness. It’s not an information age anymore, it’s an awareness age. We are connected to more and more sources of quality than ever before. We filter the loads of data coming in through our social networks so we don’t get overloaded (We may still feel overloaded, but our filtering keeps getting better), we converse about more topics that affect everyone than ever before, we respond to tragedy faster than ever before (Haiti), and we are more aware of our surroundings than ever before. We are in an Age of Awareness. Of each other (social networks), of technology, and of the connections that we have to this life.

The old guard of media has been disbanded and obliterated, we own it, as Clay Shirky states, “The participants are the producers.” Paraphrasing of course. He says it’s like when you buy a book, you get the printing press free. I’ll continue this thought…..When you buy a movie, you get the production studio for free. Stick with me now, when you buy a computer, (the thing you participate in the social media, the internet, the network of individuals and organizations with) you get the social media, the networks for free. Think about it, you buy an apple computer and you get a photo editing and management app, a music production app, a video editing app, a dvd creation app, and a web site creation tool included with the computer! Not to mention the apps that we take for granted, like a web browser, email app, and multimedia playback apps.

My phone is an iPhone 3Gs, I have a video camera, video editing app, and network capability. I can shoot edit and upload complete with graphics, music, transitions, and credits. Huh, say what? Yeah, there’s an app for that. What do I need my Sony HDR-FX1 for? It takes 3 times as long (if not longer!) to get the material off the camera and onto the web, than it takes to do it on my phone – if the web is the place I’m sending it to. And that last part is the clincher, the web is the delivery system of choice. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that traditional media has long to live. DC is the place to be, with apps, video, news, books, movies, games, data, etc, etc, etc. What’s DC? Other than being a great skateboarding shoe company, and our nation’s capital, it stands for Downloadable Content. And we’ve been using it for years, whenever you check your bank statement online, rent netflix, steal music, check the news, it is what the internet is made of.

So, yes, the way we use computers and technology is in store for a big change, and it’s not just softkeyboards, touch screens and motion sensors, it’s in how we use the technology itself – increase, enhance, and experience awareness.

This has been a stream of consciousness, if this had been an actual option piece, my grammar and citations would have been included. Thanks for reading, and I would love it if you found me on facebook and twitter, and sent me a message