In a recent interview, Bill Gates was asked what the next big thing in computers and software might be. His answer was that it would be all about how humans interact with  computers and other digital devices. Frankly, I am not sure what kind of interface I would want in my next computer and/or phone. I hate using my notebook computer's keyboard and use a third party wireless keyboard and mouse in its place. The friendlier the device the happier I am. My cell is the old kind, so if you send me a text message, don't expect much of a response.

As you old time computer users know, before the graphical user interface and before the command line prompts on a video display became the norm, computer input consisted of batch files fed to the computer using key punched cards or paper tape. The computer's output came in the form giant sheets of perforated paper. Then came Video display units along with keyboards which provided computer operators with a screen that allowed them to read the commands they were typing into the computer and view the results on the screen. Thus, the command line became the standard computer interface in the sixties, seventies and early eighties.

Graphical user interfaces emerged in the early 1980's and made computers easier to use by normal people. This interface has been the standard since that time. The Apple MacIntosh which debuted in the late '80s was the first mass produced computer to utilize the graphical user interface. Windows for the PC followed shortly thereafter.  The mouse was actually developed in 1968 at the Stanford Research Institute by Douglas Englebart. He also demonstrated hypertext and shared screen collaboration at an event in San Francisco that year.

Today's computers utilize graphical interfaces, mice, and touch screen technologies. Although these technologies have existed for 20 years or more, they have been fine tuned to make computing and web surfing easy enough for most neophyte users to accomplish their tasks. The new smart phones have taken this touch screen technology to the next level and made computing a pervasive technology that can be accomplished from almost anywhere in the world using satellite communications and wi-fi. The multi-touch screen actually debuted in 1983 on an HP 150 computer.

So what does the future hold for the computer interface and will we adapt more easily to life with computing devices as these interfaces become more sophisticated and almost human? Gesture sensing will be one of those interfaces. Eye movement already exists for the multiply handicapped. In the future you will encounter projected displays in the air in front of you that will allow to use spatial positioning wands or even your own hands to communicate with various digital devices.

The Wii already incorporates some basic versions of activation via movement. Wouldn't it be cool if when your computer acted inappropriately you could take advantage of the old one finger salute? How would it respond? How many times have you already reacted to your computer's behavior by doing just that? It could be our revenge for the blue screen of death. The iPhone already has some apps that take advantage of this type of movement sensing.

Force feedback is another emerging interface component that will be used with touch screens in the future. Surgical training devices are embracing this interface to help surgeons become more proficient at complex procedures without having to practice on humans. Some game systems are experimenting with this interface and cell phone companies are researching the possibilities of this type of interface as well.

Gates spoke of verbal interfaces when asked about the future of computing. I remember a Star Trek movie from back in the eighties in which Scotty was attempting to use an American computer and tried first to talk to the computer. He soon realized that the computer didn't understand verbal commands, and he would have to type them in if he wanted the computer to do what he wanted it to do. And we can't forget the movie 2001:A Space Odyssey where the HAL 9000 computer tried to take control of the space station and in a last ditch effort uttered the famous line, "Don't turn me off Dave".

Voice recognition has been around since the seventies, but hasn't really taken off until the new millennium began. Not that we don't talk to our computers, it's just that they don't listen. With the advances of voice recognition this is about to change radically. The voice interface will probably be common in the next 5 to 10 years.

Imagine sitting in your office or cubicle while all of your officemates are talking to their computers simultaneously. Maybe we should hold on to our keyboards and mice for a while. The office could get pretty noisy. Sounds like a business opportunity for Bose, doesn't it? Whatever the emerging interface standard becomes, I am sure that we will still have plenty to complain about.

Don't be surprised if you encounter computers that can communicate directly with your brain in the next twenty years or less. Medical research has already come up with bionic nerve connection devices that operate prosthetic limbs simply by the amputee thinking about the moving that limb. Perception monitoring could be next. I am not sure I want the computer to know what I am thinking. Do you?

What do you think the next big interface will be?  Are you happy with your keyboard, mouse and other digital interfaces? Is your cell phone easy to use for a variety of tasks? Chime in. We want to hear your story.

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I realize that this statement sounds backwards, but the fact is, email overload and multitasking do make you less productive at your job. Intel, the computer chip maker, estimates that email overload can cost large companies as much as $1 billion a year in lost productivity.

How is this possible? Aren't these supposed to be tools that make you more productive? It has more to do with interruptions to your thought processes. Your brain doesn't respond well to interruptions. These interruptions erode an area in your brain called effortful control. This in turn affects your ability to regulate your voluntary attention. Voluntary attention is the ability to concentrate on a chosen task. 

To make matters worse, this erosion of effortful control causes your brain to seek more interruptions. The more you check your email, the more you need to check your email. If you have an iPhone or Blackberry, you should be all too familiar with this problem.

According to Gayle Porter, a professor of management at Rutgers University, "Technology is an addiction". She has studied e-compulsion and has concluded that if one cannot turn off their Blackberry when they need to focus on the job at hand, then there is a problem. Addiction to electronic devices is not all that different to addictions to cigarettes, coffee or drugs.

Sure people can walk and chew gum. They can juggle four different tasks at one time, but they can't do two thinking tasks simultaneously. I am sure you have carried on a phone conversation while reading an email. Trying to do both of these tasks at the same time causes the brain to switch back and forth between these tasks. A University of Michigan study found that productivity dropped as much as 40% when subjects attempted to two or more things at once.

It has been noted that executives who have to constantly deal with electronic interruptions have a hard time focusing even when they are away from these interruptions. Their brains are so scrambled they find it difficult to stay on message during face to face meetings, sales presentations or investor pitches. A cottage industry has emerged to help executives overcome these issues.

In reality, the brain will try to compensate by moving some tasks from the hippocampus, the area that handles the more demanding cognitive tasks, to the striatum, which handles the rote tasks. In other words some important cognitive tasks might be relocated to the gum chewing part of your brain when you are multitasking. This explains why we make those typos in important messages or send emails to the wrong persons.

In her book, Rapt, Winifred Gallagher wrote that humans are the sum of what they pay attention to. Obviously we should pay attention to only those things that are most meaningful, but instead we focus on what captures our attention. Therein lays the problem, particularly if we are constantly bombarded with electronic messages and e-interruptions.

This issue has become so pervasive that Google, Microsoft, IBM and Intel have begun collaborating on developing best practices and sharing new approaches to this problem. It is a matter of self preservation for these companies. Computer engineers have been among the most affected by these e-interruptions.

A Harvard Business School study by Leslie Perlow determined that the computer engineers at one software company were so interrupted by electronic messages that the only way they could get their work done was to do their work at night and on weekends. In an experiment to alleviate this problem, all messages and phone calls were banned at certain periods during the day and their productivity increased to the point that they no longer needed nights and weekends to complete their projects.

Some managers and executives have found that limiting the number of times they check their email and phone messages is the key to productivity. One senior financial advisor at Merrill Lynch found that checking messages four times a day was the answer. Another manager at Lockeed Martin cut his message checking to twice a day.

Bottom line: Figure out what works for you and wean yourself from these e-interruptions. Constantly checking your email or phone messages will make you less productive. If you want to get the most out of your day, focus on your job and not your inbox.

Do you suffer from this affliction? Have you come up with a solution? Tell us about how you have overcome e-interruptions in the workplace.

 My web community, www.boomeropinion.com is all about capturing and broadcasting opinions and viewpoints. We provide daily polls, discussion forums, and news about critical issues facing America and Baby Boomers. If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined us, please consider it. It is free and only takes a minute to join. Coming soon you will be able to create your own polls, initiate discussions on topics you choose and ask questions of the membership.

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Just as I was about to write this blog, I remembered that I needed to check my Facebook news feed for new posts from friends and family. I also needed to send a text message to one of my colleagues about an upcoming project and get his feedback. I absolutely had to check my Outlook calendar for any appointments I might have scheduled for today. Oh, and I was going to finish reading that book about Mark Zuckerberg and Social Networking on my iPad. My life has been taken over by technology it seems.

It doesn't seem that long ago when I was bored to death and I would have to find things to do to fill my time. Back in those days, I had 3 network television channels on my TV and the only way I could keep up with my friends and family was by calling them or visiting them. If there was a project, personal or business related, I was able to devote my full attention to it until it was completed. Distractions were few and far between. Today it seems we are all overburdened with technology and communications devices that seem like technology leashes. They pull on us this way or that way constantly.  

Will we ever be able to take control of our lives again, or is it futile to even try? Younger generations seem perfectly happy to stay connected to that leash 24/7. Am I just too old to smell the cappuccino? Am I looking backward and thinking that it would be better to return to the past? Maybe, I should just fully embrace these technologies and take advantage of what they have to offer. After all, I have never had this kind of instant access to my family, my business associates or my world. It's a good thing, right? I think it is a good thing as long as you don't let it completely dominate your life.

If we let technology rule our daily lives, then we aren't really taking enough time out of each day for ourselves or for the ones we really care about. I guess I just need to find the right balance. That is easy to say, but hard to do, right? It is a lifestyle decision. Instead of letting technology run our lives, we need to step back and set some priorities. If you are trying to build the next Fortune 500 company, your time is not your own. You business life and personal life are the same. For you, there is no choice. But, for the rest of us...

Recently I wrote a blog about Mark Zuckerberg's view of social media and why he thought everyone on Facebook should be willing to share the most intimate details of their personal and business lives daily on his social network. One commenter to my blog responded that since Mark could really distinguish between his personal and professional lives, that was easy for him to say and to do. For the rest of us, we probably want to maintain some separation between those two areas of our lives.

So how can we find that balance? When and how can we free ourselves of our technology leashes? First step is to set priorities. Some people would feel completely lost if they had to put away their iPhones, Blackberries or notebook computers. I am sure age impacts those decisions. If you are old enough to have lived without all these gadgets and appliances, it is probably easier to find the proper settings and times to put them away.   

One suggestion for simplifying one's life is to start by stopping. Each day you set your agenda and try to optimize every minute of the day. What if you chose not to set any agenda? What if you just let go and didn't try to be totally productive every minute of the day. You could do whatever you felt like that morning or escape for the entire day. You could go for a walk or take a hike. You could pull out that novel that you have been meaning to read, but just couldn't find the time for.

You could take your kids or your significant other on a bike ride. You could go to the beach or the lake and just take in the natural beauty of the area. If your time is really limited, you could just go outside and watch the clouds roll by. Just remember to unplug. Leave your iPhone or Blackberry in the house or the glove box. If you have to take it with you, at least turn it off.

If you are a list person, then put aside an hour or more each day to do nothing. Write it down on your list. Stephen Covey, the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, suggests taking time for yourself on a regular basis to sharpen the saw. Translation: do something to improve your mind or your spiritual being. The metaphor is all about being able to perform at your best. Take time to sharpen the saw because with a dull saw you won't cut much wood or be very productive.

If every day of your life is so busy that you can't get everything done on your list, then re-examine your list. Typically, there are a number of things on your to-do list that might seem urgent, but aren't really that important to your job or personal life. Re-evaluate your activities in order to optimize the ones that really are important to your mission. Remove the ones that aren't really fundamentally necessary in achieving your daily goals and objectives. Your list just might become manageable.  

When it comes to your cell and your computer, you can simplify and declutter those devices. I used to receive 50-100 emails per day. A lot of them I thought I needed for work. You know the ones...Briefings on technology, leadership, management, etc. I have unsubscribed to most of them. If I need to learn the latest on any topic, I just Google it and generally learn more than I ever wanted to know in a short time.

If you have joined too many groups on linkedin and receive daily or weekly email updates, then unjoin them. Getting rid of email clutter will make your life easier to manage. Do you have too many friends on Facebook? You can hide them from view and then the only news feeds you see will be about those people that you actually care about. Don't get me started on Twitter. Unless you have a business connection that requires you posting tweets or reading other's tweets...just say no. How important can information that consists of 170 characters or less really be? Check your news feeds no more than twice a day.

And consider turning off your television set occasionally. I realize that is a lot to ask. A great many people turn on their TVs when they get up in the morning and turn them off when they go to bed. Even if they aren't actually watching, it is like an extra voice in the house to keep them company. Bottom line: Living your life vicariously through your favorite television actors or personalities is okay as long as you don't spend the bulk of your free time doing it. I realize that some of you schedule your lives around our favorite TV shows. If you are that addicted, get a DVR and do something meaningful with at least a portion of your spare time.

One final note. Recent studies have indicated that technology appliances are having an adverse effects on the attention spans of humans across the world. Our attention spans are getting shorter and we are having a more difficult time focusing on anything for extended periods of time. It is no wonder that this is happening given the amount of information we are exposed to each day and the methods we are using to communicate with each other over cell phones, instant messaging platforms, email and Twitter.

The only way to extend your ability to focus and extend your attention span is by practicing. Stop scanning the news or trade sites and start reading full articles. Read entire books. Find projects that require your full attention for extended periods of time and engage. If you want your mind back, you will have to exercise it the same as you would exercise your body to gain muscle tone.

If you want to take your life back, you can do this. It isn't really that tough. I encourage you to tell us about your ideas on unleashing yourself from technology. Inquiring minds want to know.

My web community, www.boomeropinion.com  is all about capturing and broadcasting opinions and viewpoints. We provide daily polls, discussion forums, and news about critical issues facing America and Baby Boomers. If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined us, please consider it. It is free and only takes a minute to join. Coming soon you will be able to create your own polls, initiate discussions on topics you choose and ask questions of the membership. We also have a Twitter page, http://twitter.com@boomeropinion.

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I am worried about generations of children who have grown up and are growing up with access to all these high tech gadgets and how these tools will render them unable to fully cope with society. Between instant messaging on their laptops, texting over their cell phones, and populating their Facebook pages with all sorts of photos and intimate data about themselves, will they really be prepared to function in society?

I'm worried that after all this texting and instant messaging, their vocabulary will consist mainly of acronyms and abbreviations like omg (oh my God), adip (another day in paradise), my personal favorite dhac (don't have a clue), paw (parent in the room or parent is watching), bfffl (best friend for life), dndc (don't know, don't care), etc. I am not convinced that they will be able to complete a sentence? If they use Twitter too much, the sentence can't be over 140 characters in length so they won't be able to expound on any subject in detail. At least if they have a good word processor, they will be able to run spell check and grammar check to eliminate most of the mistakes in their compositions.

What about communication and socialization skills? I am thinking in a few years everyone will stand around in the same room with their communicators (PDAs or cell phones) oohing and aahing while they text each other, instead of carrying on a real face to face conversation. Put down your communicator and talk to me Bonzo! Social interaction could become a lost art and a thing of the past.

I'm reminded of a passage from the book, The Image. The book points to a scenario where a woman walks up to a mother pushing a stroller and compliments her on the beauty of her baby girl. The mother looks seriously at the woman and tells her that if she thinks her baby is pretty, she should see the baby's photographs, implying the baby is cuter in pictures than in real life. Of course, now days, the mother will just direct the first woman to the baby's Facebook page.  It's all about the image and in the future projecting that image will be accomplished electronically. By the same token, one girl might tell her friend that she thinks her new boyfriend is hot, and the girl's response would be, "you should check out his wall on Facebook".

Speaking of Facebook, some of these kids are putting all types of information, photos and videos of themselves and their friends that they will certainly regret when they enter society and start looking for a job. And don't get me started on the subject of sexting lude photos to their friends and cohorts.

Of course, without a computer or calculator these kids won't be able to do simple math. They have had access to these devices since they were in pre-k so we shouldn't expect them to calculate a tip or do a budget without some form of electronic help. How will they determine if they have enough money to pay a bill or for some items at the checkout counter, if they can't sum it up in their heads? They will be helpless. Oh not to worry, the latest iPhone commercial will reassure them that indeed, there is an app for that.

I guess I am just an old foggie and I'm not hip to what's really going on. Although, I must say that I spent 30 years in high tech, working for both hardware and software companies, so I am no luddite - that's a non technical person for those of you from out of town. I just miss some of the old ways of doing things and the value of education in its most traditional sense.

Having said that, I probably shouldn't mention that I am a founding partner and the CEO of Boomer-Insight.com, "The Boomer's Voice in America". Well, if you can't beat them, you will just have to jump on that high tech wagon, log in and go along for the ride. Yee-haaa! 

Speaking of Boomer Insight, if you are reading my blog and haven't yet joined www.Boomer-Insight.com, please take a minute to sign up. In order for Boomers' voices and opinions to be heard across this country, you need to join us and become a member of Boomer Insight. Once you have joined, you can participate in our polls and discussions on the important issues facing America today. And...you can join in less than one minute. All we ask for is a screen name, your gender, zip code, birthdate and password. And it's free. I know you would like to weigh in on the issues, so please engage. Thanks for your support.

 

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Washington's Cash for Clunkers program is driving traffic back into the showrooms of America. That is a good thing, I think. It appears to be the first reliable economic stimulus program that Washington has come up with since the economy tanked last year.

The TARP program has helped the banks and AIG, but it hasn't really helped the economy all that much. The bailout did provide the needed funds for those banks and Wall Street Investment houses to pay those much needed bonuses to their executives (aka derivative gamblers and other unmasked bandits) who got us into this mess in the first place.

Unfortunately, the TARP stimulus hasn't really accomplished its purpose, which was to free up the credit markets and rid the financial institutions of their toxic assets. And it certainly has not trickled down to the average American trying to save their home by blocking foreclosures or reducing mortgage payments. So is the Cash for Clunkers program going to right America's economic ship? Not hardly. It will be a blip on the radar screen, but Detroit needs all the help it can get right now. Michigan's unemployment rate is hovering around 20%.

And let us not forget that the majority of clunkers being traded in were produced in America and more than 50% of the new cars purchased in the CARS program are of the Japanese and Korean variety. Part of Detroit's problem revolves around our cheap gas prices. Gasoline is much cheaper in America than any of the other industrialized countries. That is certainly the reason why the Japanese and Koreans build such fuel efficient cars. The high cost of fuel in Europe is the reason that over half of the cars they produce are of the fuel efficient diesel variety. Last year, I drove over 500 miles from Italy to Paris and I don't remember seeing one SUV on the highway. My rent car was a diesel Renault.

The real problem is, and has been, the executive management of the big three automakers. Over the past 5 decades, the American automakers position in the world has diminished considerably because there has been no real innovation in Detroit during that period. Their philosophy was and still is: Bigger is better and to hell with those mini car builders overseas. I remember back in the sixties and seventies when the foreign invasion first got started and the American car makers just scoffed at their competition. Back then, American car executives believed that they could dictate to the consumers what type of car they should buy. They were convinced that bigger was better and that quality and innovation weren't that important in selling their merchandise.

I am quite sure that if Steve Jobs was running one of the big three automakers, we would be driving the most innovative, fuel efficient cars on the planet. What would he call it? Maybe the iCar. I suspect he would have beaten the Japanese in the hybrid development race and America would be on its fourth or fifth iteration of alternative energy vehicles using different sets of power sources. And I am sure that his cars would include Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems to harness he moving energy of the vehicle.

With Steve at the helm, his company's cars would include the technology required to alert the driver to any impending engine or drivetrain malfunction and the car's navigation system would guide the driver to the nearest repair facility with a trained technician and parts. All of his cars would have crash detection and avoidance systems. Certainly his vehicles would be networked into the driver's home and office so you could activate whatever systems you would need upon arrival. Voice activated internet...you bet.

Okay, maybe I am going a little overboard here, but keep in mind that Steve has overcome every obstacle that has been thrown in his path since the mid sixties. It wasn't all that long ago, mid eighties I believe, that he was kicked out of Apple by then CEO John Scully. Well, he picked himself up and started another computer company, NEXT, and became a major investor in Pixar Studios. When he came back to Apple, he not only resurrected the computer division, but he came up with this iPod thingie. No one thought it would really catch on. Of course, he had to revolutionize the music industry to get the software content for his music player. Then he guided Apple in the development of the iPhone.

Finally let me add that I cannot take credit for this idea. I was listening to my favorite AM talk radio program today and one of the callers suggested that if Steve Jobs was running GM, that company would not be treading water today. I fully concur. Thanks caller. The description of what Steve would do if he were running a big three automaker is all my own creation and supposition.

What's your take on this issue? Inquiring minds want to know. Comment on Linkedin and/or on www.BoomerOpinion.com. We are always looking for Baby Boomers with an opinion that don't mind speaking out and can successfully complete a sentence.

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A few weeks back I wrote a blog about Ford's new internet connectivity suite...Sync. I lambasted Ford for promoting their vehicle's connectivity to social media. That's a crazy idea I said. I could just see folks trying to Tweet while driving. In reality, Ford is connecting you to your phone and the web applications you use in a much safer and better way than any other manufacturer. After learning more about this technology, I stand corrected. I spoke to soon when I criticized their system.

Ford has taken the high road and is using Microsoft's Windows CE, Bluetooth and your smartphone to make driving safer. According to a recent article in Fast Company magazine by Paul Hochman, titled How Ford's Sync Technology Will Turn It Into America's Most Surprising Consumer Electronics Company, "Ford is transforming the car into a powerful smartphone, one that lets you carry your digital world along with you and then customize it."

The article went on to state, "By freeing you from the tyrannies (and dangers) of messing with that little phone while you drive and letting you command your technology, through the car, using only your voice; by establishing the car itself as your connection to the cloud; and by giving mobile developers a way to create an ever-expanding portfolio of services designed for -- and around -- your vehicle."

Sync uses only voice based commands. Want to make a call. Just hit the media button on your steering wheel and tell your Ford what you want it to do. If you say, "Call Bob at home", Sync will pull up Bob's home number from your smart phone, dial it, and you can talk to him without holding your phone. If you can't hear Bob clearly just turn up the volume like you would on your radio from the steering wheel. The system uses artificial intelligence and learns your voice commands.

The Nuance software has more than 10,000 commands associated with driving that allows you to speak in a normal voice to your car. You don't have to go through numerous layers of menus to get advice, play music or get directions. For example, instead of saying "music, playlists, Oscar Peterson", you can just say, "I would like to hear some jazz". And up comes every piece of jazz music from your car or iPod playlists.

Ford's Service Delivery Network can connect your car wirelessly to the cloud. SyncMyRide is a Web based service that lets you load a destination into your home computer and pull it up on your car's navigation system. You won't have to print out directions and hold the map while you drive. Your nav system will give you verbal turn by turn directions that will take you to your destination. Pretty neat, huh?

Want to grab a bite. Just tell your car, "I'm hungry" and out comes spoken restaurant advice matched up with the car's navigation system. If you have satellite radio, you can say, "Find talk radio to pull preferences from that media. You want to post something on Twitter, just speak your tweets into the invisible microphone and your tweets will appear on your Twitter page.

Sync's MyFord Touch interface can be customized to your specific requirements. There are two LCD panels on either side of the speedometer. Drivers can change the layout quite easily. If you aren't concerned about the interior climate, but you are lost, you can get rid of the climate control graphic and replace it with the navigation display. If you don't need the nav screen anymore, you can replace it with the phone controls or radio display. You can even watch video on the center console...if your Ford is in park.

Since, Sync is an open platform, all types of applications will be developed for it. Services such as traffic, directions, business searches, news, sports and weather are all great candidates for Sync. Ford has six datacenters around the country that can beam in Sync applications. According to Ford, Pandora and OpenBeak created Sync-specific software for the platform in about 10 days.

To Ford's credit they didn't just put this system on the high end models. When they rolled out the first Fords with Sync, it was on the 2008 Ford Focus. The President of Ford pointed out that there is a healthy small car market and he wanted Ford to become a leader in that market. He knows that the Japanese won't be far behind.

Don't expect the other car makers to just stand idly by. Mercedes, Kia, Audi and many others are burning the midnight oil trying to catch up. First mover status doesn't guarantee success. Just ask all those MP3 player manufacturers who came out with their MP3 players before Apple introduced the iPod.

Ford is selling twice as many cars with Sync than those without Sync. Are you ready for your very own talking car? Sounds kind of like Knight Rider, but hopefully your Ford won't drive off by itself.  Does this technology appeal to you? Let us hear what you think about Ford's internet play.

My web community, www.boomeropinion.com  is all about capturing and broadcasting opinions and viewpoints. We provide daily polls, discussion forums, and news about critical issues facing America and Baby Boomers. If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined us, please consider it. It is free and only takes a minute to join. Coming soon you will be able to create your own polls, initiate discussions on topics you choose and ask questions of the membership. We also have a Twitter page, http://twitter.com@boomeropinion.

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Everyone knows that smartphones and cameraphones can take photos. But why buy a phone to use as a camera? Almost every cell phone available these days has a built-in camera. So you don't have much choice in the matter.

During the course of your day, you might come upon something or someone interesting that you want to photograph.  Did you know that those cameras can be used for many other purposes that might just make your life easier?

A number of people are using their cameraphones as digital photographic memory aids. They might want to photograph the parking garage sign to remember on what level they parked their car. Others use their cameraphones to photograph the label or a bottle of wine or unusual food item so they don't have to remember the details when they shop for those products. Now with the right apps you can use your phone to scan bar codes and get product info, reviews and best price info.

For example, how many club cards, discount cards, membership cards, big box store cards and other cards do you carry in your wallet? Did you know that you can take a photo of each of those cards with your camera phone and save them as an image file on your phone? Then when you walk into Blockbuster, Sam's Club or your favorite gym, you can pull up that image on your phone and they can scan the club card and associated bar code off your phone's screen, and you won't have to carry the card.

Other bar code apps can make you a better, smarter shopper. Let's say you are shopping and want to ensure you get the best deal on whatever product you are considering. There are several apps available that allow you to scan any bar code with your phone and the app will provide you with a list of the lowest prices for that product, both in the stores and online. Red laser, Shopper and Shazam are three such apps.

Another bar code app, Foodscanner, is a great app for those watching their waistlines. This app lets you scan food item bar codes and provides you with the calorie count of each of those food items you are planning to put in your stomach.

Another app available for smartphones and camera phones is called QR Codes. If you are in unfamiliar part of town or another city out walking around and you see a coffee shop or restaurant that displays a bar code in the window, you can scan it with this app and get reviews and prices for that establishment.

If you have an Android phone, Google Goggles is an application that will be very useful to a lot of you. Once you to photograph an item like a book, a piece of artwork, a landmark, a DVD or maybe a CD cover, this application will return search results on that particular image with pertinent information about that image. It also allows you to photograph a business card and it will automatically add that person's name, address, phone number, email address and web site to your address book.

Image recognition is a growing field and you can be sure that many more apps will come along to make your daily life easier. With the advent of 3G and 4G wireless networks, many more applications will come along. Bandwidth prevented these types of applications in the past, but that issue is becoming a non-issue these days.

What are your favorite smartphone or iPhone apps? Tell us about them and how you benefit from those apps. Our cell phones are becoming an extension of who we are and what we do? Do you have an interesting story about how you use your phone? We want to hear from you.

My web community, www.boomeropinion.com  is all about capturing and broadcasting opinions and viewpoints. We provide daily polls, discussion forums, and news about critical issues facing America and Baby Boomers. If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined us, please consider it. It is free and only takes a minute to join. Coming soon you will be able to create your own polls, initiate discussions on topics you choose and ask questions of the membership. We also have a Twitter page, http://twitter.com@boomeropinion.

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Mark Fiore, winner of the 2010 prize for editorial cartooning, and the first online-only recipient of a Pulitzer discovered that being a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist didn't guarantee that his iPhone app would be approved by Apple. You can check Mark's work at http://markfiore.com.

In a recent story by Rob Pegoraro in the Washington Post,  Apple rejects Pulitzer winner's iPhone app because it ridicules public figures, Pegoraro talks about the details surrounding Fiore's rejection. Apparently the story surfaced when the Nieman Journalism Lab blog (a product of Harvard University's Nieman Foundation) mentioned Fiore's rejection in an article about his critical success.

Mr. Fiore received an email from Apple that read:

We've reviewed NewsToons and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because it contains content that ridicules public figures.

Apple cited Section 3.3.14 of their iPhone Developer Program License Agreement. Apple hasn't published the agreement, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation obtained a copy and pointed out that section states that Apple bans apps that, "in Apple's reasonable judgment may be found objectionable".

Mark Fiore in a phone conversation told reporter Pegoraro that he uses Apple products and mentioned that he could use Apple's Youtube app to play these same animated cartoons that Apple has taken issue with. Fiore thinks Apple's actions are "un-Apple-like" particularly given their dystopian vision that they portrayed in the  "1984 Big Brother" commercial. Has Apple come full circle?

By the way, after the Nieman Journalism Lab blog article surfaced, Fiore received a call from an Apple employee suggesting he re-submit his iPhone app. He was told that the next submission might get a different response than his first attempt.

Pegoraro believes that the real question is, "Would Apple evict a news organization's app if it determined that their content was objectionable?". So in order to test Apple, Pegoraro wrote the following paragraph in the above referenced article:

"Ridiculing public figures is the birthright of every American citizen, enshrined in the First Amendment. Brave men and women have shed blood to defend that freedom, one we celebrate every time we boo a politician who can't keep an opening-day pitch out of the dirt. Apple once professed to speak for people who "think different" and, presumably, appreciated that right. Now, though, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs apparently thinks it's Apple's job to comfort the comfortable, sparing them the indignity of being mocked in a smartphone application. Since when is that Apple's work? Since when should it be any self-respecting, red-blooded capitalist's job? You have to ask: Why does Steve Jobs hate America?"

"Okay, Apple: Ball's in your court. Anybody want to wager on the fate of the Post's iPhone app? I'm taking bets in the comments."

Pegoraro is testing Apple's resolve. But would Apple shut down the The Washington Post's iPhone app. Not likely. Wouldn't be interesting to be a fly on the wall at Apple and listen in to the discussion that this sequence of events brings about.

Do you think Apple has the right to limit what it determines to be objectionable material? Obviously, if the app goes over the line when it comes to being offensive in a different way...pornography, overly violent, etc. then that is a different story...or is it? After all, on the internet, not much is sacred anymore. Tell us what you think.

My web community, www.boomeropinion.com  is all about capturing and broadcasting opinions and viewpoints. We provide daily polls, discussion forums, and news about critical issues facing America and Baby Boomers. If you are a Baby Boomer and haven't joined us, please consider it. It is free and only takes a minute to join. Coming soon you will be able to create your own polls, initiate discussions on topics you choose and ask questions of the membership. We also have a Twitter page, http://twitter.com@boomeropinion.

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