IBM's new 'SoulPad' is a virtual computer on a small portable storage device, like a USB key or an MP3 Player. According to IBM, SoulPad "enables a paradigm of mobile computing where a user can suspend his computing environment on one PC and resume it on another PC that he may have never seen before."
New Scientist takes the slightly creepy soul metaphor even further:
"The virtual computer's "soul" - as the researchers dub it - can then be uploaded to a new PC simply by plugging the portable device in. This host machine needs no special software or even a network connection to take on an entirely new personality."
I can easily envisage a time in the future when we will not require a physical device to store one's computer "soul". I suggest that before long, you will be able to store all of your personal data on the Web. The IBM SoulPad is just an intermediary step towards a SoulWeb. Because why would we need a small mobile device when we can store everything on the Web?
I've been having a very interesting, sci-fi powered, email discussion with someone on this theme (before I heard about the SoulPad). My correspondent contends that we'll always need a physical device to store what he terms the "trust wall" of our data. My contention is that in future there will be no logical reason why even very personal data can't be stored on the Web, provided security and privacy implications have been solved by that point (admittedly that's a 'big if' looking at it with 2005 eyes).
Any fellow SF-minded Webheads out there with an opinion on this?
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I saw Sun demo something like this a while back. I think it was based on a thin client with all of you data/apps stored and run centrally. When you moved from workstation to workstation you just pulled out you security card and plugged it in at the new one and your session continues where you left off. Load time was almost instant (a few seconds).
I don't see any reason why a physical device is required, as long as authentication issues are resolved. Once we get a web-based OS, any machine with a browser will do.
Save your soul on the net, set its permissions. When you jump on a new machine you decide how much of your soul to bare.
Posted by: Joseph Lindsay | August 11, 2005 1:38 PM
Isn't this what BlackDog (http://www.projectblackdog.com/site/index.html) is?
I like the idea of putting myself on the web, but only if it's distributed, like DNS. As long as my copy of me doesn't depend on one company, I'm keen. I wouldn't want Greg Storey's recent experience (http://www.airbagindustries.com/archives/007918.php) to happen with my virtual soul.
Posted by: Harry | August 11, 2005 2:28 PM
I've seen a number of these USB flash drive solutions out there, some even touting themselves as Web 2.0.
I have to say I'm a bit queezy about using the word 'soul' in the context of computers. Must be my catholic upbringing...
Posted by: Richard MacManus | August 11, 2005 2:35 PM
I'm only vaguely beginning to get my soul back online. Ultimately, it is personal choice where to locate one's soul. However, the convenience issues associated with being able to not have to carry anything with one's self are probably compelling enough to overwhelm personal security issues.
I'd recommend, however, that even if all one's data is online, that people still need a way to "disconnect" and get some "down time" and still be working-with and accessing their personal data. Doing this in an always connected world is probably nearly impossible, so the regions of no-network, whether real or self-imposed, are valuable in that regard and thus data must still be located offline to facilitate those times, even if it is also all online as well.
Of course, speaking to a person that now makes his living off of the always-connected world (belated congrats! - I was disconnected then...) about the importance of disconnecting is probably not the wisest of things for me to be doing... ;)
Posted by: Andrew Chen | August 12, 2005 4:00 AM