I think that you miss the point. The point is not about technology, the technology already exists. The point is about people.

Most people do not see the point of ubiquitous internet / computing. They don't want it, even for free, because they feel that they have no use for it. Case in point: Vodafone has been trying to sell UMTS in Germany for the past 2 years. You can use their portal for free (with an UMTS contract which you get with most subsidized smartphones anyway), and they offer you TV channels, some news sites, weather forecasts, basically a decent selection of what people are likely to use on the move (the idea being to hook you up for premium access, of course).

I have yet to see someone who uses it. You see people phoning or using sms everywhere (say public transport or restaurants). You never see anyone using anything else.

People don't want it. It's that simple. You can try as hard as you want, people won't buy it. And eyetaps won't change it: most people would not want to be seen wearing something like that anyway. It clashes with their designer eyewear. It does not look cool. It is the equivalent of wearing a big sign saying "I am a stupid geek and I have no life".

People want to wear designer clothes with brands who will make their friends jealous, not geek devices who will make their friends ashamed of being seen with them. Eyetaps... Jesus!

Of course, some people, i.e. geeks, would want it and that may skew your perception. If I go to the local computing university, I will find plenty of people who want ubiquitous network access. The problem is that they are not a profitable market: you can get flatrate UMTS today for 50€ a month here, but geeks are not prepared to pay that much. You can't build a business model on geeks. But I dare you to go in the street and ask 10 people how much they would pay for mobile internet access, most people will respond that they don't need it, they already have internet at home. And those are the people who already spend 100€ a month on their mobile phone bill.

On one side of the street, hundreds of geeks who want ubiquitous computing but find 50€ a month too much money. On the other side, hundred of millions of people who are not prepared to pay a cent for it, yet already pay 100€ a month for their phone bill. Do you understand? It is about people, not technology.


And no, no amount of technology will ever change that. Ever. Socially speaking, people still do the same things that they have been doing in stone age: talking with their friends, and trying to gain status. Technology never changed that, and it won't today.