I guess it's my blog and I can go off menu if I want, so I'm not sure that this entry is going to have a lot to do with storage, although it might veer of that way. Apart from being an incorrigble techo-weenie, I'm also a Dad. Now our little girl is special but I suppose your little girls and boys are too but our little girl is just a little more special, she was born with a condition called Arthrogryposis (it's alright, you can google it! We had to!).
She has a moderately-severe case and it affects muscles and joints in all her limbs; so there is no real strength and she is mostly in a wheel-chair; she can walk but only with calipers. She loves to walk and dance much to her parents joy and complete dismay (she likes to test her parents reactions by throwing herself at them). And she loves computers and the best thing is watching her use them; the way she copes and works round problems is kind of amazing.
But what it has given me a real appreciation of is how liberating this technology stuff is; she likes to play World of Warcraft because it's a landscape she can run around in, currently she likes running to the top of the snowy mounds in the Dwarf/Goblin starting area and leaping off them. She also likes blowing things up with fireballs, what kid wouldn't! Google is her playground; don't get me wrong, she loves books but Google is her Britannica; the same way I would use traditional encyclopedias, she uses Google and the web.
I'm looking forward to Amazon finally getting round to lauch the Kindle in the UK (and yes I know there is the Sony and the Iliad); I'll have at least two; one for her, one for me and maybe one for Mum. But Mum still loves the artifact (blimey, I remember sitting in a talk in Octocon in Ireland talking about ebooks and the power of the artifact, probably nearly ten years ago). Things like the Kindle will be brilliant for her as she has problems with turning the pages of a normal book and yes, we're getting to the stage where a netbook will be coming her way soon but the e-books will completely change her access to the written word (may mean car journeys are a little quieter too).
What technology can do is completely change the access that everyone has to knowledge, entertainment and many things that we take for granted. It doesn't replace what we had, it augments it and what we should be asking ourselves is what we are doing making things better for people. It may be that it makes my life a little easier so I can spend more time with my little one; it may be that it makes it easier for any child to get access to an education.
So one thing my little one is going to get for Xmas is a OLPC because we in Europe will also be able to take part in the 'Give One, Get One'. And Nicholas Negroponte has been a hero of mine since I read 'Being Digital' more than 10 years ago.
Hmmm, no real storage reference!! Aha, that Google FS stuff is really cool; someone should produce a commercial model and monetize it.
Internet is really a good thing. It carries various information resources and services, we can email our frinds, chat online with friends, find the information we need… we can do anything online.