No. This is not a post about an ex-girlfriend. And I’m not sure if a spoiler alert is needed. :)
So I finally got to see the Spike Jonze movie Her and I have to tell you, they did an amazing job! You start by thinking, “How could anyone fall in love with an OS? That’s stupid!” and when I first saw the commercials, I felt the same way. But I’m here to tell you that they earned every ounce of that Oscar for best screenplay. They slowly walk you through the progression of a man who ends up loving an OS. But . . . this is not a movie review! I wanted to talk about some of the things that surprised me in regards to Mr. Jonze’s vision of the future when it came to mobile technology. I’ll list them out in no particular order.
- Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix didn’t send out one text. Not one. As a matter of fact, no one in the movie sent or received one. This was shocking since it is the prevalent form of mobile communication today. And the only voice to text was at his job as a letter writer. (You need to see the movie to understand that job title.)
- There was no augmented reality. Theodore was in fact wearing classes and still no AR. For those of you thinking, “I would never wear Google Glass! It’s ugly enough to be considered a form of birth control!” Don’t kid yourself. As soon as that tech is in a normal looking pair of glasses and you can get small visual updates when you have a new text message or an incoming call, you’ll be all over that!
- He took his earpiece in and out. Many people leave their wired headphones in throughout the day. It they were wireless, I bet most just leave them in. And they continue to get smaller and smaller making them almost invisible.
- His device was not a phablet. It was small and almost looked disposable. Definitely a cloud driven device.
- She knew him. (I would have said, Her knew him, but I’m all about grammar.) She went through all of his data and communications to determine not only what his strengths were but also what his goals should be. She compiled his letters into a book and sent them to a publisher. And that got him a deal! If your significant other did this, you’d most likely be pissed. But when software does it: it’s appreciated.
Not sure how closely this movie maps to the future but it’s great food for thought. #evolving
