The End Of The PC As We Know It

Apple quietly unveiled a new tool as part of iPhone OS4. It is its new ad targeting delivery vehicle. iAd.

Thanks to Professor Ben for alerting me to this.

Clearly I missed the whole hoopla and was just happy that Apple recognizes that people actually can chew gum and walk at the same time (aka multi-tasking). What is somewhat scary though is that the new platform has an area of secure functions that the user has no control over.

Within the new OS4 - a number of functions will now operate independent of the owner/user. Some of these are valuable features to improve the quality of the User Experience (UE). For example the geolocation services will not require apps that use them to be turned on. the apps can be off and the geolocation service will update/sync as necessary. Indeed the OS will now wake up an app if there is something interesting going on. Think of Facebook staying constantly on and being aware of where you are at all time. To me the scary thing is that the user has no control over it. Rules of use and access will be controlled by some geeks in Cupertino.

Thus iAd will become the standard for the delivery of geo-targeted ads. Indeed in Ben's Opinion and I concur - this will challenge the whole notion of ad targeting. Move over Google here comes Apple. I think I am losing track of who has control over the real Death Star

This will create a whole new class of always on services that stay with you. Indeed the initiative will make mobile the pre-eminent interface between the user and the eworld. Thus in my opinion the PC will decline as the primary interface to the web.

Wait did I say that???

Yes - this is a challenge to the PC centric world that we know and love. We are headed towards the world of the Star Trek Communicator. However the device will not be tied to a Ship's Computer it will tied to the web with all its idiosyncrasies.

So going back to my theory. We have a new world emerging. 5 years ago who would have thought that the innovation to drive a sea change in mobile would have come from Apple. But they have managed to do it. I would have put money on Blackberry and would not have lost any (I did back their stock by the way). But now the convergence that we have heard for so long will likely come from the house of Steve. Thus I nominate Ocelot for the next named Apple OS X software. I think they should skip the whole 10.x and go to 11. OS X-11 Ocelot will be the slimmer version of the OS that merges all the OS4 of the iPhone with the Mac OS. Combine that with a clamshell tablet and then I would be very interested. (I just can't bring myself to say I would purchase an iPad).

Hello Redmond, Santa Clara, Mountain View - anyone home?

Cheers