Taking the usual short cut to Lambton Quay via the James Cook, I was coincidentally redirected (due to a woman on crutches ahead of me on the usual route) via the reception area and as I walked through I noticed a man with a headset and a small palmtop with an image on it...

Not wishing to intrude I walked past, paused, walked back, glimpsed, walked away again and waited for the lift. It might be nothing to do with CafeNET. If he was connected, maybe it was cellular, but something about his location suggested, since cellular coverage is everywhere, right? that he was there for CafeNET.

So I walked back a second time and politely inquired what he was doing. Like the vast majority of people doing geeky things in public, he was very forthcoming. Yes, he was using CafeNET ("a wonderful service"), Skype and a Sony Vaio (perhaps there's still more to Sony than root kits, burning batteries and stupid squabbles about media standards) to conduct a video call to his friend in California.

Theory, and demos are hardly more than that, doesn't ever truly convey the reality of an activity like finding a user in the wild. I'm sure the user isn't necessarily representative of that mysterious majority, but even one real spontaneous user is worth a bushel of demos or reports.

The device had a reasonable screen, two cameras (one facing away from the screen, which he had used the night before to show the crowd in Sojourn to Holly in California) and a slide away (I think) keyboard, and touch-sensitive screen and stylus. And it was tiny, not much larger than a CD crystal case. Ah, finally, found it.

Not suggesting this is new or unique, except that it is for me. A long held belief that over time Wi-FI/CafeNET would be adopted for live communication (VoIP or video, or both) and that this will make it a must-have in any location people gather. Like light, heating and the other grace & favour services premises must supply to succeed.