The next phase in technological convergence will be harder than the last, because it can’t be solved with technology. Last time the devices converged, some phone makers just needed to buy a photoelectric detector, a lens, and licenses for some MP3 patents.

But how can the various tab-sized computers I carry – my bank cards, SIMs, passport, building door card, transport cards, office ID – be integrated, when they mean different things to different people? Technologically, it’s really bad to keep them separate because you can’t just hold a bag of RFID tokens up to a reader and expect the right thing to happen. Socially, it’s really bad to converge them; I can’t imagine my bank, employer, train conductor and government all agreeing to the same terms on identifying me, nor would one company be an acceptable clearing house for all of that so rather than N distinct tokens we’d end up with N tokens you can use Anywhere™*.