Technology Review‘s Wade Roush has been publishing a fascinating set of blogs over the last few days: “10,000 Brainiacs: Let’s Write a Social Computing Story, Socially!” As you’ll see from some of the comments I’ve left, I’m still not convinced that transparent computing is the only paradigm we should consider or work toward. (Doug Engelbart’s vision won’t let go of me.) But the writing is spirited, the imagination fully engaged, and the conclusions at the end of part 4 are beautifully articulated, especially for someone like me who’s been wearing glasses since age 6.

And this is what’s truly new about continuous computing. As advanced as our PCs and our other information gadgets have grown, we have never really loved them. They’re like toasters and VCRs: We’ve used them all these years only because they have made us more productive. But now that’s changing. When computing devices are always with us and always helping us be the social beings we are, time spent “on the computer” no longer feels like time taken away from real life. And it isn’t: cell phones, laptops, and the Web are, in fact, becoming the best tools we have for staying connected to the people and ideas and activities that are important to us. The underlying hardware and software may never become invisible, but it will become less obtrusive, allowing us to focus our attention on the actual information being conveyed. Eventually, living in a world of continuous computing will be like wearing eyeglasses. The rims are always visible, but the wearer forgets he has them on–even though they’re the only things making the world clear.

Thanks, Wade, for your voice and your efforts here.