From Gizmodo comes an article about a methanol fuel cell-powered laptop. "Alternative" energy is quickly becoming mainstream.
I read very few magazines. One of those that I do read, The Atlantic Monthly, is regularly covered in advertisements from oil and automotive companies proclaiming their vast investment in natural gas and hydrogen power, in order to "safeguard the nation's energy future." In the June 2004 issue, there are nine such ads, including one from BP which suggest that the sixty percent of BP oil that comes from North America is not "foreign oil." I think Hugo Chavez would disagree. The count does not include the ad on page 154 for a Neuton Cordless Electric Mower. Only $389.99. The product website claims you can get up to an hour of mowing time. This is the inevitable drawback of having an electric mower - you cannot just fill up the tank when it becomes empty. I'll wait for the methanol fuel cell mower, thank you very much.
Five years from now, I predict that fuel cells will be like USB is now, powering virtually every type of device imaginable, from blankets to toothbrushes. Of course, fuel cells do not need computers, so it will be less ludicrous.