The 2010 goals discussion just hosted by Mitchell was really useful — be sure to check it out on air.mozilla.com. But as usual I’m jumping ahead of the present and thinking ten steps into the future. I have two dreams for mobile devices.

The first is universal accessibility. Right now we have to focus on developing amazingly innovative technology. But the mobile Web is still so new that we can’t help but focus on products and technologies that are only accessible through high end, cost prohibitive devices and services. I’d love to see devices that don’t marginalize the elderly with small print and tiny keyboards. I can’t wait for the day when third world villages can realistically afford several mobile devices. Think of the revolutionary social change that can come from free and open access to information. Specifically, I often think of the unscientific folk remedies associated with HIV that have exponentially increased rates of infection and death. Something as simple as access to Wikipedia or WebMD could have a drastic effect on belief and behavior. Social change for the better can ocurr, but the localization of the Web that Mozilla encourages can help preserve the best parts of traditional culture. Marginalized ethnic groups such as the Saami, the Kurds, and various Native American tribes have readily adapted to the web, finding stronger ways to keep culture, language, and traditional practicies alive.

My second mobile dream is to see open source Web technology smoothly integrated into all facets of our lives. I want the term “mobile” to be come obsolete. “Mobile” should become the default way we access the Web, not the exception. We’ll need a new term for mobile devices altogether — “pod,” or maybe the term “Browser” will come to mean an entire mobile device in itself. I eventually want to have a mobile device that accesses the Web as easily and smoothly as my laptop. I want to come home and drop it in a pod at my home where it communicates with my house. My security system, kitchen appliances, and entertainment system would talk to my mobile device. Television as we know it is now gone — it’s all web based and on demand, and if I enjoy a program I can tell my TV to send it to my mobile. But my ultimate mobile dream device?

How about something with four wheels, a powerful yet environmentally friendly engine, and enough vroom-vroom to turn some heads?

Oh yes, a car. Maybe it’s because I’m an American and maybe even more so because I’m from L.A., but cars have always been a part of my life and nothing beats hitting the open road in a vehicle of your own. And every time I get into my car, I think about how awesome it would be to have a vehicle perform as an open source mobile device. A community developed add-on runs a full diagnostic on my vehicle every time I get in or out, and stats are instantly relayed to my pod. Fuel economy, tire thickness, the responsiveness of my brakes, and the coefficient of friction on an icy road are all presented to me. While I’m out on my travels, my mobile pod recharges in my vehicle, and both maintain contact with my home, alerting me instantly if there is an unauthorized entry or if the roast in the oven starts to burn. And when all systems are go and it’s time to roar down the I-5 to go down south, my car’s operating system knows which verbal command means that it’s time to access the music collection on my pod and crank up the AC/DC. Like a good Californian, I don’t actually need a map to get most places. (As any Angeleno can tell you, we know every side route, back road, and alternate travel plan there is.) But in the event that I should need directions, I don’t need some silly separate GPS device to tell me where to go. Maps are already online, and GPS is built in to the vehicle and communicates seamlessly with the Internet.

I want to see smooth integration between the digital and real world. I want to have control over my data, and I want it to follow me around, instead of me going out of my way to find a place to access it. I want no differentiation between the mobile and stationary web. Shoot, I don’t even want segregation between computers and any device more complicated than a refrigerator.

And while I’m at it, I want my car to be programmed to speak with the voice of Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, or Hugh Jackman. Or all three. That’s not too much to dream for, is it?