How do you explain the tremendous hype and true excitement about the iPhone? It is not a particularly revolutionary device in that its features all already existed in various places. It's key is integration - simplifying and streamlining the complexity of communications today. People are willing to pay for any device that does this well. Imagine a device you could wear that would serve as an accessory when not needed and morph into a phone, camera or other device form when needed. This sort of device is being developed now in research labs (Here's the video.). This unification of communications as a goal of cell phone providers sets up the broader topic of unified messaging.
Unified messaging is a hot topic right now. It promises integration of telephone, email, and various other ICTs into one interface with unified search, storage, and topic cataloging of content.
We see interesting devices from time to time that prompt re-thinking the potential of how we behave and what we are able to do. I saw an interesting USB key fob today that did just that. It is a small device that will enable a person to carry files along with an identity and interaction method! What does this mean?