If it’s been a while since you’ve read a good, honest, thoughtful debate (no Crossfire-style yelling involved), click over to Design Observer. Contributor William Drenttel’s essay “My Country Is Not A Brand” begs a read and a bit of reflection. Be sure to peruse the comments.

Think for a moment about using a computer – for work, entertainment, research, writing, paying bills, etc. Do you think of these tasks as experiences?

If not, you may want to start.

As the Web grows ever more pervasive, we can expect to rely more and more on computers linked together to do our menial daily tasks. I just signed up to have most bills paid online. I write and publish. I write more letters than I ever did using standard mail.

Each of these tasks individually does not construe an experience. Yet, the sum of them and other tasks equals an increasing chunk of our waking hours, our “conscious experience.”

Companies like AOL and Yahoo play to this niche, creating a frame for our experience of the Web. Even Google, the uncarved block of the Web, is for many people a starting point for an experience of the Web.

Now, think about the accessibility of the Web in 10 years. Think full-frame, digital movie feeds simultaneously to millions. Think smaller, more subtle technologies edging into our lives. Think handheld, wireless devices with clever Web interfaces – accessibility to boundless information anywhere.

Before long, the Web will act as both servant and master. Its stores of information will, at the same time, help us achieve things undreamed of, and organize us globally (and, or course, virtually) by interest.

It’s all about people. It’s all about the things they do, the things that interest them, their experiences. As I wrote months back, this is what circuit-brains are for: to make everyday tasks easier so we can concentrate on the big ideas.