Steve Rubel pines for a notebook-free future:

The reason is simple: all of these devices are pocketable. A laptop isn't. I don't want to carry a laptop because it's mental baggage. I don't want to be thinking about where it is. Smartphones and USB keys are like appendages. I always know where they are. Plus, I know that one day soon we won't need to carry laptops on business trips because these phones - which are really pocket computers - will be able to do it all, including hook up to hotel TVs. I am trying to experience this future now.

I really don't get that, at all. Everything takes a lot more effort on small devices like iPhones. I love my iPhone, but seriously - it's not a device you can do serious work on. Not to mention the fact that it's not an ideal device for watching video on, either - whereas a full notebook with Hulu takes the hotel TV right out of the picture.

I wonder - does Rubel also want to do without clothing on the road, because in the future we might have some kind of instant cleaning service? While that woud be pretty convenient, people would wonder when you started arriving in the same clothes day after day...