This video by Microsoft has not been watched a lot, but it sure demonstrates what kind of digital world we might be getting close to. The neat part is, it’s not just all digital, but a transition from analog experiences to interactive ones.

Watch the part around 4.09 minutes, when the man opens up the newspaper. How different is it from your experience today?

Not that you can scroll through a column, or click on a news item in the newsprint. But think about it: ten years ago, we never thought we would be able to read a newspaper on a phone, did we?

Or use a ‘tablet’  styled laptop in this way. Or take a picture of  an icon or bar code and have it link us to content. Which is what Quick Response Codes allow. (See my twinterview on this for more details.)

The critics of this tend to question how useful a hand-held device will be, when ubiquitous computing will make common objects interactive. “Why would the whole world revolve around a single technology (touch screens)?” asks one person commenting on the Microsoft video. Google probably has answered that, now, with its Android. Watch how its navigation application works.