XO (as social hardware)

I've joked before about "social hardware" - devices that force us to meet people, like a 3-way plug adapter in an airport.

The XO is my new favorite example, though, because it's designed to network even in the absence of an Internet connection. That's right: it networks with other XO's, facilitating shared documents, collaborating on composing music, video conference, etc -- even if now one has access to the Internet. Add to that how if ONE of them does get a connection to the World Wide Web, then it shares that connection with all the others. (Community Wireless support is a pervasive, albeit quiet movement, it's true.)

As I tweeted Friday night, I drove home with the XO open, scanning for WiFi hotspots. From the freeway, I picked up the FlyingJ truckstop (it's router is named "FlyingJ"). And once into Denver, I pulled over at one point and counted around 40 networks (almost all of them locked). It was quite a show (image above).

I recently plugged my "Net2Phone" headphone/mike into my MacBook (with built in camera) and video-Skyped with a friend in Europe (for "free") that Net2Phone mailed me my headphones in 1998, I believe. Yes, 10 years of struggling to make video conferencing a reality in my life and the lives of the people around me.

The XO does it without even an Internet connection. Bravo.

Imagine a village or a school with a 100 XO's, and the ability to call up your friends or family and video chat. This may be the closest they come to having telephones in each house. How ironic I'll never meet 90% of the neighbors I see as icons on my, on this XO.