Bingo, Boise!

Las Vegas, Nevada 2006… By the time Linux wins the hearts and minds of the PC desktop, everyone else will have forgotten that unfortunate analogy from the era when people worked in offices with desks and pushed paper. Linux has become so “GenX”. As the latest Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas amply exhibited, GenY computing is all about immersion, entertainment and fun. Everyone wants to get past the desktop into the living room and onto the cellphone. The new generation is no longer dominated by desktop users. The new computer game is consumers and convergence. Dressed in a funky lab coat, Larry Page dazzled the CES audience with Google’s convergence search tool for the Blackberry handheld.

“Linux is so GenX. GenY computing is all about immersion, entertainment and fun.”

Back in Portland, Oregon 2005… Better late than never, Linux’s GenX has now launched its most inclusive campaign to make progress toward finally capturing the desktop for everyone: geeks, non-geeks, red hatters, blue hatters, corporates and community. They call their effort “Portland”, after the location of the Open Source Development Lab (OSDL) who sponsored the first desktop workshop.

On to Boise, Idaho 2007… But, like old soldiers, “Portland” seems caught up in fighting old battles and solving old problems. The present chiefs of Linux certainly are focusing on issues that need to be solved, of course, but these concerns are frightfully old fashioned. Therefore, perhaps instead of “Portland”, we can have a new Linux initiative… hmmm…let’s see, what about “Boise”? What better icon to guide the next revolution of open source computing. Under this new branding, “Boise” will strive to be the simplest, most flexible way to interact with the coming wave of digital entertainment possibilities, 3-D immersion and multi-sensory, imagineered total experience.

While we’re at it, perhaps it’s time to change the venerable name of Linux. The Linux meme is wearing a very old hat. It doesn’t really fit the new vision at all. Look for names like Convergence-ux or even Dummy-ux. Or perhaps it’s time for berets instead of hats. Moreover, contrary to the aims of “Portland”, Linux should strive for far less intelligent interfaces. More sophisticated, but less intelligent. Today’s consumer needs simple, even mindless interfaces that require no effort at all.

World domination requires a new profile for Linux. One that pampers the needs of the ultimate consumer couch potato. Perhaps GenY’s Linux labs should look away from the high-tech, expensive suburbs of “Portland” and over to the potato belt of Idaho, as the “Forever State” tries to modernize and attract high-tech and entertainment industries.

Bingo, Boise.