Add Logitech to the mix and can imagine how the master of the mouse and the multi-function TV remote will finally solve some of the sticky issues that arise when a single screen is called upon to serve up video entertainment, display photos, render social networking “activity streams” and otherwise accommodate the whims of the multi-tasking, attention-challenged public. If it works as suggested, it is one of the key outcomes of taking a recombinant (rather than a unified) approach to computing and communications. The family TV is transformed not just into a media or entertainment center, but into a big screen on which all manner of icons could invoke the widgets, apps and “links” that make each of our lives what they are.

Like the iPad, it is a tabla rasa or empty slate today. It’s just neat to contemplate how it could transform TV viewing into a much more engaging or social activity. Based on the backlash surrounding Google’s Buzz (and even Wave for that matter), we can only hope that the roll-out is done in a way that reflects an understanding of the different human factors that prevail in the TV room, as opposed to at a cubicle or among the mobile phone toting public.

I can only ask whether this trip is necessary and whether it will necessarily be effective. Atom-equipped devices running Linux-derivative operating systems are, indeed proliferating. Until the Orange announcement, MeeGo’s future was uncertain. The platform, itself, is the product of merged development efforts combining the Linux-based Maemo platform – an “open source” effort underwritten by Nokia – and Moblin (Mobile Linux) efforts initiated by Intel.

Application developers, integrators and software vendors are the force multipliers destined to make Recombinant Communications (RC) successful. When it comes to smartphones, for instance, applications developers have voted with their fast-moving fingers. And the results are pretty clear. In spite of Apple’s iron fisted control of the release process, the iPhone App Store offers more than 100,000 apps. That compares to Google’s 20,000 titles. Then it’s a long-distance call to the next tier of retail outlets, where RIM is approaching a five-figure total and Palm’s WebOS has just hit four figures. The proliferation of platforms will ultimately lead to “developer fatigue”. In the spirit of “Beta versus VHS” or “HDDVD versus BlueRay” it may turn out that even two is too many.

Even though success is by no means assured, choosing the MeeGo platform with Intel as a partner is a gamble that’s worth taking early. Orange is right to focus on the quality of user experience across multiple “screens” and, in case nobody has noticed, the iPhone OS, Android and MeeGo are all Linux variants. I’m not a coder, but I see a common denominator here. What the developer community looks for is fair-handedness in terms of support and revenue models. What users look for is consistency across multiple platforms. A service provider of Orange’s size and footprint has an opportunity to offer both.

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