It’s very fascinating to think of the upcoming generation who use online products to augment relationships that may not have been previously possible. Theodora Stites writes about a typical day in her life and how the online world connects her and defines her relationships. Relationships that take time to manage but the web is allowing people like Theodra to modify their level of engagement with their peer groups, engaging others with various levels of social intimacy.

Previously, there were acquaintances, friends, and colleagues. Now websites such as MySpace, Friendster, Dodgeball, Plazes, Facebook, and of course IM, are allowing users to customize and define new social groupings.

The future is ready for the connectivity that continuous computing will bring. I hope to be one of the many riding the wave as it crashes upon the rocks.

I’m beginning to believe strongly in Wade Roush’s vision of Continuous Computing. It’s an incremental step from what we already have and it’s much more feasible than ubicomp. Why? — Because the technology is already here.

For those not familiar with Continuous Computing it’d be a good idea to read Roush’s manifesto. If you’d like the Cole’s notes, I’d like to make the simple distinction that it is augmenting existing technologies with social networks and real time information in which users of this technology have unprecedented amounts of choice and access to information.

As a result of this existing infrastructure there are new opportunities to create very interesting software to compliment these technologies. Ubiquitous Computing on the other hand is more of a hardware driven revolution where by ambient devices are embedded into the everyday and interaction with these ambient devices seamlessly occur as they track and gather data. (think minority report – very hardware intensive and requires an infrastructure that doesn’t exist yet).

Anyway, I’m just babbling like usual but I have a strong feeling that there will be more applications built to propel the Continuous Computing revolution. We are just at the cusp of what can be possible. Applications that allow you to access their services anytime and anywhere and let you connect with people in the virtual and physical world that you may not know otherwise.

I’m working on such an application right now with a group of intelligent people. Right now it’s still very hush hush top secret but as it becomes more concrete I’ll release the details. In the meantime take a look at dodgeball which is just the beginning of what is possible.