This is one reason I'm not crazy about the over-use of AJAX we're seeing everywhere. It looks cool but often breaks the normal flow of navigation in ways that aren't intuitive. I'll stick with CGI, thanks.

Have you ever tried explaining a programming concept to someone that doesn't code? It's hard.

Explaining science is hard too.

You might want to check this blog called In The Pipeline:

http://pipeline.corante.com/

It discusses all things related to the Pharmaceutical industry, but it's written from the perspective of a medicinal chemist and there are often entries discussing exactly this issue, with comments from lots of people in the field, e.g.:

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/graduate_school/

good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions, but those all appear to be rings that LOOK geeky. Are there no rings that actually serve a purpose? If I'm going to wear a little gadget on my finger for 20+ years it would be nice if it actually did something. I'm thinking data storage, magnetism, lasers, etc. Anything?

Isn't that exactly what doctors do? Patients die. Shit happens. We're only human and our power is limited.

OK well how about a refrigerator that can access recipe sites via the web. Or your car's navigation system that can get your routes from your desktop via the web. These things are coming. Would you argue that all of these devices should allow the user to have full access to the entire web and all the problems that may come with it? Do you want to get a virus on your refrigerator?

Now, I think whether or not a phone is such an appliance is an open and interesting question. But surely you think there are SOME devices that should be closed and only have access to certain protocols/sites.

Steve Jobs is in favor of closing off one device that has numerous other important functions, not the whole internet....

He's implying that no-one should access the web with a closed OS under any circumstance. That seems ridiculous. There are many items that may benefit from web-access that don't need full/open access. I think right now people are arguing over whether or not a phone is such an item. Personally, I don't want root access to my phone. I'm happy to give up full freedom on my phone in exchange for it NEVER failing to do what I need it to do.

Yeah the keyboard might be the weakest link. I don't find range to be an issue, but there is a slight latency and I get a lot more typos for some reason. It would be a pain to use for extensive coding or word-processing, but for e-mail/chat/etc it's fine.

I use an Adesso SlimTouch which has a built-in touchpad, which was the killer-feature I was looking for. Overall I'm very happy with it. It's a lot like using a laptop because I can sit-back on the couch and use it without needing a separate mouse (which requires a table/desk of some sort).

mod up

I hooked up my Mac mini to my 42" flatscreen and this has basically replaced cable and a normal computer for me. I sit on my couch with my wireless keyboard and either surf the web, skype, or watch Netflix/Hulu/etc.

Interestingly everyone that comes over and sees the set-up wants it for themselves. It still takes *a little* geek savvy to install a system like this, but not for long. Once people get more exposure to this sort of thing they'll never look back.

It's much more enjoyable to watch TV-shows via Hulu/Netflix than it is once a week with long adverts, anyway.

um, maybe not word processing...