I’m sure you are reading this missive on your smartphone or maybe your new tablet. The last I heard smartphones were on track to out sell PCs next year and eclipse total sales by 2012. Amazing, simply amazing don’t you think?  Most likely if you are an incorrigible early adopter you already get it, if you are a laggard, now’s the time to join the fun. And for the Luddites out there, well what can I say?

Just noticed that Microsoft has “officially” launched its new smartphone, the “Windows Phone 7”. David Pogue in his always instructive column this morning seemed to suggest why now…it’s a wee bit late in the game. The iPhone introduced 3 years ago, has sold over 70 million iPhones, has 300,000 apps with some billion plus downloaded worldwide. The Google Android phones launched a mere 2 years ago give or take have already sold 30 million phones from the likes of Motorola, HTC, Samsung to name a few and have an impressive 100,000 apps available.

Happily there are a whole slew of excellent real estate apps out there too. The bad-boy of real estate Zillow has the number one app for real estate along with others from Trulia and Realtor.com.

What makes a smartphone so adorable to so many? It works, its easy and its just plain fun. Think of a productivity tool that really does it all. By the way some “cloud thinkers” are saying software is so yesterday as apps continue their onslaught to rule the net. In fact the new Mac Book Air is reported to embrace apps with its own apps store, just like iTunes. Very cuil and maybe another game changer from Steve Jobs and Apple.

And while you are thinking about all this, you need to keep up your energy, nourish the little grey cells, so you’re on I-5 going or coming from downtown San Diego, exit right at Tecolote Road, take another right on W. Morena Blvd. to one on San Diego’s (no the world’s) best kept culinary secrets, Waters Fine Catering (think Café Cuil). Long and widely known as for its premier catering, Waters also offers its menu of fresh, inventive cuisine as take-out or even eat-in from its storefront café cuil with its kitchens just behind. But be forewarned…Waters is habit forming and not just from the I-5.

Now back in the game and inexplicably wondering just how fast is your smartphone after all? Well its fast, and just like your old PC travels the Internet. That’s really what a smartphone is, a hand held computer. So connectivity over the Internet …I know…I know…and yes there many circumstances and reasons that impact its speed, but theoretically the Internet travels at the speed of  light and that is 186,000 miles per second. Snap your fingers and you’re in Australia or a couple of times and it’s the moon and back. Or download a novel in 10 seconds.

So Hip or Hopeless? Relax Gandhi figured it out for you…“The future depends on what we do in the present”.

- Bud Clark