The ability to predict the future is an elusive power. But that doesn't mean that we can't make some educated guesses along the way. As we move more into the twenty-first century, armed with more gadgets and power cords than we know what to do with, we find ourselves asking, what is next? I would argue that you not worry so much about where we are going, but focus on where we are now.

Just in case you didn't know: the personal computer celebrated an anniversary a couple of weeks ago. There wasn't a lot of fanfare, no ticker-tape parade, or world celebration. Odd, since this machine has fundamentally changed the way the world operates.

Consolidation: the assimilation of different systems, data, products, units etc., or even disparate formats, to create a new, unified entity.I would like to bring to your attention a few technologies that are helping to take the art of consolidation to a whole new level.

As a researcher, I am about to commit heresy--I am going to posit that you should not worry so much about gathering data to find out where consumers are going; rather, we should use the most effective tools, the most relevant data, to understand where they are.

One thing I love about traveling, and trust me, there aren't that many, is that I get to grab all these freebie business magazines. I picked one up the other day and came upon an article about Bluetooth--stereo Bluetooth and the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP).