Touch Revolution Google Android Desk Phones vs. 1999 Windows CE Desk Phones

I had to chuckle a little when I read the main point from this Forbes article…

Google’s Android To Invade Homes

The devices will fall into three basic categories: home control devices, media control devices and home phones, says Bill Brown, Touch Revolution’s vice president of marketing. All the gadgets will feature touch-screens in sizes ranging from 4.3 to 10 inches, support Android as an operating system, and connect to the Web through wi-fi or wired ethernet. Depending on their purpose, they will sport bases (for perching on a desk or kitchen counter) or have a flat, tablet shape for handheld use or for embedding in a wall.

Why chuckle? It is because I heard all this 10 years ago (1999) at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference and Fall Comdex. The difference is that (aside from the time) is that the platform of choice then was Windows CE (which still exists in embedded devices of all kinds as well as Windows Mobile phones). You can see photos of two of the Windows CE desk phones that could also provide home and media control.

I’m not saying that this Google Android based echo of the past is doomed to disappear. I’m just saying that gadgets that attempt to move out of the usual desktop computer area and into the living room and kitchen has always run into a lot of issues.

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.