Want to know my favorite invention over the last few years? The iPod? No. Blackberry? Nope. Flip video? Nah-uh. It’s the Smart Key System for my Prius. It never has to come out of my pocket. The wireless reader in the car knows when I’m nearby and unlocks the door and lets me push the start button without inserting the key. I’m so used to it, in fact, that when I use the other family car I often sit for a beat before I realize the need to go old school.
So what’s the future? Soon all cars will be keyless and these keys, now the size of a small box of matches, will be reduced to coin size. And what will happen as we need to carry less keys and money and other things that go jingle in our pants pockets? Pants designs will change. Instead of 4 pockets, we’ll probably have one. And that one will be for our iPhones. Were I Tommy Hilfiger, I’d put that pocket right in back…in the middle.
