The Atom and Ion processors are game changing chips helping to fuel this (r)evolution. I believe the Intel Atom, Moorestown, and Medfield processors will be as important, if not more important than the original Pentiums.

I've been hacking around with netbook class hardware for about 9 months and have a multitude of netbooks, nettops, and I just recently completed the buildout of 5 new Atom-based desktops that each cost $191. The Intel N280 chip that is powering the Asus Eee 1005HA that I'm typing this on is an amazing chip that only consumes 2.5 watts of power. Pretty cool to see my battery meter say "10 hours" of life left. This is also made possible with innovations in energy efficient backlit LED technology.

I see this as the beginning of a new wave of innovation in software, hardware, and computing in general. It opens the door for developers and engineers to rethink the traditional Human Computer Interaction (HCI) patterns. In the coming months and years, sw and hw platforms like ChromeOS, Windows 7, Atom, Ion, and Medfield will drive more pervasive computing models helping bring access to more and more people and an entire new class of small, powerful, smart, always-connected devices.

With announcements recently from Nokia about plans to use the forthcoming Intel Moorsetown and  Medfield processor line for its next line of smartphones and similar mobile devices, it's only a matter of time before the floodgates open to a whole new class of smart always-connected internet devices.

I'm very excited about using all this shiny new hw and sw tech to tackle some really hard problems.

- ∞ +

So what does this mean? It means that I've got a new arsenal of APIs, protocols, devices, browsers, and OSs to build the next gen HCI with.

I'm talking auto, home, mobile geekery. Embedded, wearable, you name it. Combine this with what's coming in the latter part of 2010 with the Intel Medfield line of 32nm Atom chips, and we are talking about some serious new classes of computing devices. Something in between the current generation of smartphones like the iPhone 3GS, HTC Hero/Ion and the size of my new 1005HA netbook. I'm with Arrington on this one. Screw software, I want to get into the HW biz and build cool new gadgets for specific use cases that are all in the $150 price range.

I just proved that you can build full featured Atom-based desktops for $191. If we can do that with today's generation of hw/sw, just think what will be possible with all this new crap.

That's why I'm so excited about things like Atom, Medfield, Wave, Android, Moblin, Jolicloud, Boxee, and now, Chrome OS.

Exciting times ahead I think . Onward.