Currently expanding the FIRST scouting project to generate PDFs with barcode IDs. Data entry will be epic.

Upon doing some research today, I found a new element that’s worked its way into the HTML5 spec: the <device> tag. What this will allow web developers to do is have a standard way of using a device on the user’s computer (like a webcam or microphone).

What could this mean? The obvious one is video-chat capabilities without Flash, but I’m seeing this as a huge bridge between the desktop world and the web world. Just imagine: Flickr could upload pictures directly from your camera without any extra software, or browser games could use your joysticks natively. If this specification goes through, we could be looking at a dramatically different web.

It’s the rage on the internet and just one in a long line of buzzwords from the internet: HTML5. Many of my technically inclined followers know of HTML5. Even my followers who have been on the Internet in the past few months may have heard of it. The promises it makes are wild and varied: spectacular video, ground-breaking graphics, awesome apps, and astounding audio. But what does HTML5 mean, and why is it good? And more importantly, how is Zombie Zen using it?

I’m not going to tell you how great Google Voice is. I’m not going to tell you that Apple should put the Google Voice apps back on the App Store. I’m not even going to slam AT&T for being a bad cell phone carrier.

I think you know all this.

What Google needs to do is make a killer app—something that’s so useful that the customers demand that phone companies let Google compete. Google’s Voice service is a glimpse at what phones can be, but it’s the little parts of the experience that need work. Yes, I know, most of my problems stem from the fact that I use a “dumb” phone. But ordinary cell phones and landlines need some love, too.

First of all, one of the nice things about living in the 21st century is Caller ID (“Oh geez, it’s my crazy coworker trying to get rich quick. Time for voicemail!”). You can give your number to your friends and then when you call, they see a nice little picture of you come up on their phone. And that’s why Google Voice is supposed to be so great: any phone you call from should show that same caller ID, right? Wrong. As it stands right now, your caller ID will be your Google number only if you go through their website or if you call the number, enter your PIN, hit 2, then dial the number you want. Why can’t I just use the contact list I already entered into my Google Account? Voice dialing? I know Google has speech-to-text recognition; they have Google 411. So what’s my work-around? I still use my cell phone’s directory and people still see my cell number on occasion. Lame.

Next, I try to use Google Voice exclusively for my texting. I don’t have a texting plan, so if I disable sending texts to my cell, I can use the Google Voice website to text and not pay a dime. However, if I’m on the go, this becomes a bit of a problem for two reasons: I can’t start a texting thread without having it show my cell as the sender and I can’t turn text notifications on and off from the mobile site. This is inconvenient. I know, if I had a smart phone, I wouldn’t be having this problem. But a good number of people don’t have web-capable phones.

My last objection to the service is for recording voicemail greetings: why can’t we upload audio files? Before switching to Google Voice, I was using YouMail, which actively promoted uploading your own creative voicemail messages. I whipped up several funny greetings for my friends with audio software that had music and sound effects. With Google Voice, you can record voicemail messages, but they have to be recorded through one of your phones—you can’t upload your greetings directly. I know this isn’t a mission-critical feature, but my friends enjoyed leaving a voicemail when I was using YouMail.

Back before the days of texting and telemarketers, using the telephone was a terrific experience. You enjoyed picking up the phone. Google Voice has the potential to do what Gmail did for email: make communication fun again. Because of the adversity that Google is facing, I fear that Voice may not live up to its potential.