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Planet of the Apps...
Mar. 27th, 2010 12:09 amI had a smartphone that was essentially based on 20th century technology (Palm Treo 650). After a botched attempt at replacing the screen, it essentially became a brick (hosed the keyboard, so very limited interaction). My attempt to replace it failed (bought a Treo 700p on eBay, it didn't work, sent it back, got refund).
Verizon is my carrier, and when I checked out their offerings I found I could get a 21st century smartphone essentially for free if I re-up'ed for two years. So I got an Android-based phone from HTC.
Oh. My. God. Now I "get" it.
This thing is seriously addictive. I didn't realize just *how* disruptive this technology was until I actually had it in my hands. The cellphone broke our dependence on landlines and payphones and let us chat wherever we went. The modern smartphone basically breaks our dependence on computers and lets us network wherever we go... and do a lot of other things too!
I also finally "get" the notion of the iPad. The iPhone-type smartphones are basically application engines that let you run all manner of lightweight apps on a portable, networked platform. While these devices make excellent use of the limited screen real estate they've got, some things just work better on a bigger screen. The iPad brings the lightweight app architecture of the iPhone to a netbook form-factor. With the advent of cloud computing less and less of our tasks will be done on dedicated computers and more and more will be done online. The iPad might very well be a step in the direction of "universal cloud computing".
(I'm not sure whether the latter is a good or a bad thing. The good thing about cloud computing is that you can access it wherever you go. The bad thing is that it's basically controlled by someone else whose motivations and/or abilities you aren't necessarily privy to...)
Verizon is my carrier, and when I checked out their offerings I found I could get a 21st century smartphone essentially for free if I re-up'ed for two years. So I got an Android-based phone from HTC.
Oh. My. God. Now I "get" it.
This thing is seriously addictive. I didn't realize just *how* disruptive this technology was until I actually had it in my hands. The cellphone broke our dependence on landlines and payphones and let us chat wherever we went. The modern smartphone basically breaks our dependence on computers and lets us network wherever we go... and do a lot of other things too!
I also finally "get" the notion of the iPad. The iPhone-type smartphones are basically application engines that let you run all manner of lightweight apps on a portable, networked platform. While these devices make excellent use of the limited screen real estate they've got, some things just work better on a bigger screen. The iPad brings the lightweight app architecture of the iPhone to a netbook form-factor. With the advent of cloud computing less and less of our tasks will be done on dedicated computers and more and more will be done online. The iPad might very well be a step in the direction of "universal cloud computing".
(I'm not sure whether the latter is a good or a bad thing. The good thing about cloud computing is that you can access it wherever you go. The bad thing is that it's basically controlled by someone else whose motivations and/or abilities you aren't necessarily privy to...)
