Robert Cringely is such a big, high-level thinker, my brain hurts when I read his columns - and I mean this in a good way because he raises ideas that force you to pause to recalibrate your own thinking. Take, for example, his column on Google Cubes, which comes on the heels of his Google data-centre in a shipping container column (two must-reads for Google watchers). Cringely believes Google could establish itself as a key - if not the key - technology within the digital home with small boxes (they sound like a media or communications gateway) that would connect different devices to the Internet. Here's his description:

"This embedded device, for which I am afraid I have no name, is a small box covered with many types of ports - USB, RJ-45, RJ-11, analog and digital video, S-video, analog and optical sound, etc. Additional I/O that can't be seen is WiFi and Bluetooth. This little box is Google's interface to every computer, TV, and stereo system in your home, as well as linking to home automation and climate control. The cubes are networked together wirelessly in a mesh network, so only one need be attached to your broadband modem or router. Like VoIP adapters (it does that too, through the RJ-11 connector) the little cubes will come in the mail and when plugged in will just plain work."

I believe the Google Cube is way out there thinking but I'll never dismiss anything Google could do given its financial strength and the grandiose plans of Mr. Page and Mr. Brin (If they aren't evil, they are terribly ambitious). In any event, Cringely believes the Google Cube could become an essential and ubiquitous part of the digital home by doing what Google does best: providing a simple-to-use and useful service that would drive consumers to other Google services and, of course, advertising. If there's a downside, it's that Google's grip on consumers becomes even stronger - without taking into account the normal fears about privacy. Of course, consumers can choose to use Google Cubes but I think millions of people would happily take one if they existed.

I started to leaf through the latest Wired magazine last night when it suddenly struck me it was a nice, hefty, advertising-packed 296 pages. This took me back to the height of the dot-com boom when magazines such as Wired, Business 2.0 (which went bi-weekly), Fast Company and the Industry Standard regularly published heavy, back-busting issues. In fact, they were so big, I got into this weird habit of ripping as many ads as I could from these paper monsters to lighten the load - there has got to be a description for this kind of behavior, right?. I don't think the high-tech magazine industry has totally rebounded back to dot-com health but it's interesting to see Wired getting thicker. Does this suggest the high-industry is becoming more optimistic? Maybe. I guess what's encouraging about Wired's return is its advertiser roster is chock-a-block with blue-chip firms such as Toyota, Sun, Acura, Motorola, Sony and Microsoft. There is a comforting absence of all those hot Web 2.0 start-ups. When you see these guys start advertising in Wired, sell everything because the party is probably over. One thing about Wired is it seems have recaptured its "cool" factor. There was a time not so long ago when Wired lost me as a reader. Perhaps it was simply information overload given I read a lot - much of it not on paper - or it could have been Wired lost its focus trying to figure out whether it wanted to be a tech magazine or a business magazine or both or neither. In any event, I got lured back to Wired by a ultra-low subscription offer (those $2 a month deals that used to be mysteriously unavailable to Canadians) so I'm back in the fold. For me, the high-tech magazine comeback will really be complete when freelance writing assignments start to materialize again. During the boom, editors were wonderfully desperate for content because they needed something to fill those annoying gaps between advertisements!