I was at an event where graduating college students were presenting their projects. One student was showing a software system that allows you to use a Smartphone – with its motion sensors – as a 3D controller for a video game. On one slide he compared his tool to a Wii setup, and under “Cost” he pointed out that a Wii system costs a couple hundred bucks and the software he was presenting would cost under $5.

I couldn’t resist pointing out that for his system you needed to also have a smartphone, which would cost more than the Wii; the student had to concede this point. But what I noted is how he was entirely misled by an implicit assumption – that anyone would in fact have a smartphone, as if it went with the territory of being human in this day and age.

And indeed, for Gen Y (and, increasingly, the older generations) having an iPhone or Android device is pretty much a given. These marvels of technology are becoming ubiquitous, enabling in turn an entire ecosystem of software. I can’t help but wonder what technology will become so omnipresent when these bright students reach my present age…