Cell Phone Projection

As far as I am concerned, the next big steps in the communications revolution are clear and obvious and relatively simple and involve cell phones rather than computers. One such step is what I will call "Cell Phone Projection".

Cell phones (mobiles) are sweeping the world even faster than computers. Why cannot cell phones simply replace most computers? The answer is the size of the display. Cell phones do not have the capacity to visually display a lot of information at once like a computer desktop, not even the two-piece flip phones that have a larger display. If cell phones could only display as much information as a computer desktop, it would certainly be a revolution in communications. Everyone could carry a full-capacity internet-connected computer with them everywhere, as well as a phone.

Why not use projection? A cell phone could have two display screens, one for direct reading as phones have now, and the other for projection. The projection screen would use liquid crystal technology to embody a working computer desktop on a lens.

To use the phone as a full-fledged computer, the user would hold the phone about 18 inches from a wall or other flat surface with the projection screen pointing toward the wall. It would project a computer desktop on the wall like a slide projector and a small laser pointer would act as a mouse. A virtual keyboard at the bottom of the screen would make typing easy. Naturally, the projection screen would require a stronger source of light than the direct-read display screen as well as reliable batteries.

That is not all. We can make "The Navigation Revolution" a part of the communications revolution. What if all cell phones were equipped with GPS receivers and maps.google.com was furnished with GPS coordinates. Anyone anywhere in the world could quickly and easily look at maps and satellite imagery of their location.