Creativeprose: You Looked Into Your Crystal Ball

Theresa Stone

In the 1/3/06 newsletter, I tried my hand at predictions for the coming year, from a foot-operated tablet to logos on the moon. I invited you to come up with your own light-hearted look ahead. Here’s what you had to say:

• In what is being hailed as a quantum leap in personal expression, Apple and Chanel have joined forces to create the new sPod, a personal scent device. In a joint release, the companies state that "Odor conscious users will soon be able to download formulations from the new iScent web store that will allow them complete control over their personal smell. The sPod will also store and play up to 100 songs, and can be set up to adjust the scent according to the music." No pricing information was given in the release. In a related announcement, Sony and Avon plan their own personal scent player, but no specifics have yet been given. An editorial in the New York Times fears that the new products will just stink. – Robert L. Fleck
• Sony engineers have developed a holographic multimedia recording and communication device that weighs less than 1.5 ounces, has a storage capacity of 18 zettabytes (production models are expected to exceed these estimates), and can communicate with and convert data from any existing legacy hardware and software, including Edison’s Wax phonograph cylinders and Morse code. The egg-sized device can even translate cuneiform and Mayan glyphs and store the text as transmittable as well as audible data.
  The invention, called the Rosetta Stone, will be available in the Spring of 2006 and can project both sounds and images as well as its GUI on any solid, liquid, or vapor up to an aspect ratio of 6 inches x 4 inches with no image degradation and no spatial distance limitations. Sony officials say that the device will usher in a new paradigm of communication. Critics complain, however, that the new technology runs off of a proprietary phase-shift electrical current available only through Sony Corp and was specifically designed for this product. Depending on usage, the "dual unimpeded motion bandwidth" (DUMB, for short) storage clip must be sent back to Sony every three weeks for recharging – recharging time is expected to take an additional three weeks. – Ed Verner

• To counter Apple’s switch to an Intel processor, Michael Dell announces a new line of servers using the G5 chip. Designed for service in colder climates, the new servers may be slower and more expensive bur the G5 generates enough heat to negate the need of a heater in the room. – Dave Huss
• Motorola announces a new PDA that can run Photoshop CS2. "We feel there are a lot of artists out there who get creative ideas outside of the studio and need portable tools to realize their creations." When asked if the user would mind working on a 2-inch LCD screen, the Motorola spokesman said that "squinting helps." Next year they will release a PDA with a 3-inch LCD that can be used for running Maya. – Dave Huss
• AutoDesk will merge its two premium programs, 3D Studio Max and Maya, to create the uber app…MaxiMaya. They promise not to drop the new application from the Mac platform (check to make sure fingers are not crossed behind any backs!) – Christine Shock