YouTube on the iPad

The iPad - is that a phone or a computer?“ [YouTube co-founder Chad] Hurley asks. “If I put it on my wall is it a TV? People continue to try to throw things in the buckets when really these are all going to be different-sized devices with a connection to the internet.

via theage.com.au

Exactly. Forget about TVs, phones, computers, tablets. They’re all the same, just different sizes (and better suited for different purposes).

Right now, I can watch live TV with my iPhone, as I’m on the train home. Right now, I can have a video chat on my TV. Both of these activities are a bit hack-ish (the live TV is encoded and sent from my media centre at home, for example) but the fact is that the technology is there already, all that needs to happen is an appropriate user experience. I make it sound all so easy.

I think the biggest so-far-unsolved problem is presence. Where am I, and how do my devices know? Also, some of my devices are personal (my iPhone), and some are shared with others (media centre). How will it change things if I’m watching something on my media centre, and someone wants to talk to me. Which device is responsible for telling me that? Can I transfer that communication from my pocket computer (aka iPhone) to the wall computer (aka media centre)? If so, how does that work?

And - how can I turn it all off, if I’m in the middle of a good book, movie or conversation? I can turn my iPhone silent with a single button that I can feel for in my pocket - it’s gotta be that easy.