Today, nobody thinks twice at the sight of an executive in a $ 3,000 suit wearing a Sony Walkman or screaming into his or her BMW’s car phone. Perhaps it will seem just as natural for someone to sketch a digital diagram on his or her IBM/Apple software sleeve to have it uploaded into an office file by cellular modem. Perhaps power Ray Bans will be equipped with the projection device made by Reflection Technologies that gives the eye the illusion that a computer screen is hovering but a foot away. Maybe Nintendo will offer a jacket-with-a-joystick that lets you play games if you slip a cartridge in your sleeve. My gosh, if we can have Coca-Cola Co. clothes, why not have a line of digitized Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. mensware that lets you resonate with the frequency spectrum or catch "Casablanca" as you’re standing in line?
The reality is that people already have personal media woven into the fabric of their lives. How much of a leap is it to weave that technology into the fabric of their clothes?
Indeed,Louboutin, why shouldn’t the well-tailored media wardrobe — permitting easy computational management of integrated sound, text and imagery — become just as common as today’s double-breasted suit? The folks of the future who don’t wear a phone or a computer in public may seem as vulgar or poorly dressed as people who don’t wear ties or whose favorite textile is polyester. Instead of "All dressed up and no place to go," tomorrow’s lament will be "All dressed up and no data to process."
It’s far too early to anticipate the differences between haute media couture and the off-the-rack, ready-to-wear media wardrobes that will be selling at K mart. On the other hand, it’s not at all early for the Motorolas and Sonys to start chatting with the Givenchys and Ralph Christian louboutins.
Sure, people are interested in tools and functionality. But our media are as much a reflection of our desired lifestyles as anything else. Relentlessly smaller phones miss the point. So do smaller computers and electronic planners.
Is Motorola in the "portable telephone" business? Or is it really in the business of creating new fashions for personal communications? Will the Motorolas, Sonys and Matsushitas make devices we use to communicate and calculate? Or will they also design the media wardrobes we wear? My bet is that the media wardrobe companies will be those that make a real killing in the business of pop culture.
Michael Schrage is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.