I’m making a prediction: Within 5 years the avarage user will be working on a “smart” phone/device as their primary computer.
One caveat, replacing laptops and desktops with a smart phone in the workplace will take quite a bit longer. However, I’m betting a phone or similar small computing device will be the average users next laptop or desktop replacement.
Bold words? Maybe. But after purchasing, owning, and exploring the iPhone 4 with Apple iOS I’ve come to realize I am one cable away from getting real work done on my phone. The iPhone 4 uses the same high powered processor and embedded bluetooth wireless keyboard capabilities as the iPad. Therefor, the only barrier left is plugging the iPhone into a monitor. Fire up a larger screen monitor and suddenly you are churning out your everyday work — email, documents, spreadsheets, photo manipulation — or just about anything else you can dream up with an app. Obviously, the key here would be for apple to scale the screen to match the resolution and layout to the monitor, but they’ve already proved that is an easy task as accomplished in the iPad.
When the sync-to-monitor cable appears (not just TV cable), and once people realize a phone possesses all the processing power that most people really need, you can kiss you laptop, netbook, and desktop goodbye. This also means the consumer computer industry will also be transformed, again, but that’s a post for another day. In the meantime, keep an eye out for that cable.