We’re on a collision course. It’s going to be an epic collision. Not the type that everyone slows down to look at. Nope. Something far more catastrophic is going to occur. We’re consuming more and more “data” on our phones. There’s no sense in even referring to our devices as smartphones; the segment of people with “feature” phones is dwindling faster than our ice caps. As our phones become more powerful, the battery life longer and the ecosystem of apps more dynamic, it’s becoming second nature for us to be connected.

So we download an app. We check Facebook. We tweet. We check-in. We stream videos from Netflix. We instagram. And instagram. And instagram some more. We consume. We consume like crazy. And why shouldn’t we? The web is how we learn, discover, share, communicate and enhance our relationships. Today, we can do all of that, all the time, from anywhere. Our whole life fits in our pocket.

We’re moving forward like a turbo charged race car on a highway without speed limits. But, as we try to accelerate, as we try to enjoy the buzz that comes from speed, we’re getting read to hit speed bump after bump and eventually a wall. Those bumps and that wall are our antiquated wireless infrastructure. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and eventually Sprint are capping our access. Their data plans act like governors that keep us stuck in 3rd gear.

Consumers want to access the web on demand and on the go. As marketers we want to deliver content and information that enhances their experience. But, we can never realize the potential that comes from a unique situation where consumers want the same thing as marketers; the web…on tap. We talk about the power of the cloud. But, the cloud offers little value if we can’t access the cloud without fearing a data overage charge?

Could you imagine a world where Comcast throttled how much TV you could watch? A world where ever month you could only watch X minutes of TV? Of course not. And one major reason why you’ll never have to imagine that world is advertisers would never allow it. You can’t siphon off one of the largest pipes that allow advertisers to reach consumers.

TV is at scale. No one questions that. No one questions TVs ability to reach massive amounts of people quickly. That’s why I think we are headed for a collision. With smartphone penetration over 50% and consumption on a hockey stick growth curve, we’re going to see advertisers fight with service providers. It’s inevitable. For once, no one is disagreeing that mobile is the future. Where there is still disagreement though, is if the future is now. That disagreement is what allows the Verizon’s of the world to put up speed bump after speed bump and keep us all from fulfilling on the promise of mobile.

The collision is imminent. It’s approaching rapidly. But, it won’t happen because you, the consumer, wants a better mobile experience…wants unmetered data…wants an on demand and on the go world. Nope. It’s going to happen because advertisers will refuse to operate in a world where their ability to market to customers is being constrained by the “pipe” providers.

There’s been a significant amount of dialogue lately about cloud computing and netbooks.  For those of you not in the loop, here’s a quick synopsis of the concept.  Right now all of your files and information live on your computer.  OK, so maybe not everything, but the overwhelming majority of things are on your computer.  This includes email, Word documents, Photoshop files, Excel files, photos, and so much more.  If you will, your computer (laptop or desktop) is the mother ship and all of your files live on the mother ship.

Netbooks are smaller scaled down versions of your computer (think smaller screens, lighter weight, tinier hard drives, etc.).  The cloud seeks to have all of your information live somewhere else beyond your computer.  If you use Hotmail or Gmail you can those are great examples of how email can live in the cloud.  The netbooks can be smaller, lighter, and have a smaller hard drive, because they are designed to plug in to the internet and connect with the cloud.

In theory this seems like a cool idea…a great idea even.  I mean the Googles of the world (where your email lives) have back up servers and can protect your data.  With information living in the cloud, you can access it from anywhere.  This is a great concept.  However, there’s two major flaws.

1. Infrastructure: We have a horrible infrastructure.  Do you find your internet access at home, work, and in between to be reliable?  Of course not. The wifi coverage is poor, expensive, and at best semi-reliable.  If your access to the cloud is interrupted you can’t get your precious pieces of information.
2. Control: When your information lives in the cloud you are beholden the cloud providers.  Think of each cloud provider as a mother ship.  Gmail holds your mail.  Meebo lets you connect via instant messenger.  Google Docs takes care of spreadsheets and other Microsoft Office like files.  Mobile Me will let you store your contacts and bookmarks.  I think you get what I’m saying.  But, what happens when Google cancels a product like Google Notebook?  Well, you’re kinda screwed.

The control problem exists everywhere.  Microsoft could in theory cancel Office.  It’s doubtful, but it could happen.  Infrastructure is the real problem.  We’re all familiar with the story of Paul Revere. Paul had quite a powerful message to deliver.  What would have happened if Paul didn’t have a horse, or better yet, what if there were no roads (as crude as they were back then)?  The message would not have been delivered.

To paint a slightly different picture, what if the message Paul was carrying lived in the cloud. However, when the time came to share the message, he experienced a service interruption and couldn’t access the message for 24 hours.  If that had happened, we might still be under British rule

A message, your message can be well written, poignant, and convincing, but if you don’t have the means for delivery no one will ever hear it.  It’s this fact that doesn’t have me bought in to cloud computing and netbooks.