Google’s new Operating System called Android–which is now being used for cell phones, but don’t count on that limitation being permanent–is making some waves.
Here’s a nifty video demo:
The steady erosion of the need for an actual PC with an operating system like Windows continues so far as I can see. Another five years or so it’ll be obvious to everyone, would be my wager. :-)
{ 5 comments }
The fact that the OS is open is interesting.    I bought a Nokia N810 “micro PC†about a year ago, mostly as an intelligent iPod replacement.  It runs some sort of semi-open Linux-based OS. Trying to make it communicate with Windows based systems was always a chore, but it was doable.  It was slowly building a base of semi-custom apps that were developed by users, which was nice. But once Google announced Android, it seems 90% of the developers jumped ship and focused on it.  My Nokia will be on eBay soon…
Very interesting, an open OS too. I wouldn’t be surprised if PCs get banished to doing very large tasks like movie rendering etc again while your normal cell phone and hand held devices do normal everyday activities.
The steady erosion of the need for an actual PC with an operating system like Windows continues so far as I can see. Another five years or so it’ll be obvious to everyone, would be my wager.
Perhaps you say that because much, maybe most, of your PC use is for text applications. Try making a blog or forum skin with your Android Phone. Extensive apps like Photoshop are not ready for the obsolete heap anytime soon: certainly not in the next five years.
Jaymaster: Yep. This seems to be a repeat of a trend with Apple as well; their iPhone and the eventual long-term path of the cellphone industry is such that they were ahead of the curve, then it’ll be that what they created will be out of synch with the rest of the world, and they’ll have to move on to something new.
Sandi: I mostly say it because of the industry trends I see. My own actual need for a PC is obviously minimal and has been for some time now, since almost everything I do now is web-based and so would work just fine with an appliance that included a full-sized monitor and keyboard and a broadband connection.
There are people who obviously need traditional PCs; that number is simply shrinking. This like other tech trends is logarithmic, so it doesn’t start out looking like much but each year it grows until it hits a point where everyone sees it–just like, in the 1980s and even early 1990s it wasn’t obvious to most of us that the internet would soon be ubiquitous–or even useful to most people for more than a few things. (Then of course everyone saw the growth, but overanticipated it and went overboard, giving us the bubble and its inevitable burst. But now it’s settled down and the actual growth trend has been pretty consistent the whole time.)
Funny, when the guy in the video started sharing the URL with his IM buddy, I expected something more streamlined than cut n paste. I thought there would be a button. I should write that app…
Still, I’ve got my concerns about the privacy of an android. Google being able to tie my IM, email, web, phone and travel (via gps) behavior just makes me nervous. They wouldn’t find anything exciting, (eavesdropping on me is a great sleep aid) but I still don’t like Sergei and the gang following me around.
RyanR’s last blog post..Faces of Math
Comments on this entry are closed.