The Computer In Your Pants

Its no secret that most of us walk around with a smartphone in our pockets. This advanced computing device has become the lifeblood of most of the world. No smartphone often means no business, or at least very limited business. My friend lost his phone over the weekend and was instantly lost as to what to do. This coveted phone was set up to watch all the SEC football games on Saturday, listen to the Falcons on Sunday and some minor things in between. Such as making phone calls and texting friends. With no phone, he was forced to contact friends through Facebook on a laptop. Facebook has an inherent delay, and most people cant flip open there laptop to check things no matter what their location. These computers (smartphones) also give us directions and allow us to keep our lives organized with any number of apps. 10 years ago, RIM's blackberry was a pager with a couple of lines to view text. Now they tell you who else is online, where they are, and what the weather is in whatever city they may be. Of course I expect smartphone technology to continue to increase for the foreseeable future, but what about the eventual literal computer in your pants. As technology advances I suspect smart threads in our clothes will being to provide information to us on a whole different scale. E-textiles or smart fibers, which are made of semiconducting materials are already being made at universities such as Virginia Tech. I wonder how smart our clothes will become in the next twenty or thirty years.