I’m not an early adopter, but . . .

I’m not an early adopter. I’m really not. I don’t want new tech because it’s new. I don’t buy new tech and then figure out what I can do with it. I don’t follow bleeding edge advances.

What I am is — I’m a solid alpha user. I want the tech to do the thing. I have a need; I get the tech to do it. And I will run the tech up against its limits to get it to do the thing.

What I want is global social proprioception.

I want to know where the people who matter to me are, and what they are doing, regardless of location. I want my own personal network, layered into levels of intimacy that are discreet — something more subtle than Friend or unfriend. I want two-way communication via voice, video, and text with everyone I care about regardless of location. And I want it available for at least twelve hours without needing to recharge the power supply. I want user- and network-generated content, with substantive updates, essays, long discussions, and briefly jotted notes. I want video and photo capability with music. AND I want the software for managing those to be on the device. And I want it in my pocket. And I want it now.

And — before anyone helpfully suggests 65326432 things, I want all these things to be natively part of the device, not something rammed onto the poor OS. Yes, I know you can do a LOT with an iPhone. But you can’t do everything I want. Yet.

All that said, Palm — a company whose products I have avoided because on their insistence on a proprietary OS that is losing marketshare — has just announced the Pre. Which I won’t be getting anytime soon — I don’t buy the first iteration of a product, thanks. But listen to this:

“Instead of having multiple communications apps on the phone, any of which you can use to carry on a conversation via multiple services, you just open up a single chat card with that user. That chat card hosts a continuous stream of conversation that combines SMS messages and IM in a single, seamless interface and chat experience. That way, the focus is on the conversation, and not the medium (SMS, Gtalk, iChat, AIM, etc.).”

Moreover:

“Sprint is the exclusive launch partner for the pré, playing the AT&T to Palm’s Apple. This was a great score for the company, which has reportedly been losing subscribers (myself included) to the iPhone in droves. I personally prefer Sprint’s network to AT&T’s, and now there’s actually a phone on that network that I’d consider using. Palm will eventually make a WCDMA version available, so we should eventually see the pré on T-Mobile, AT&T, and/or Vodafone (outside of the US).”

I am currently on Sprint, due to my Motorola Q.

So, the future of my connectivity aspirations keeps looking better.