Google’s answer to this problem is that the device doesn’t matter. Its all about the browser. Apples answer is iCloud — it’s all about apps.

[A short recap for those just joining the conversation, iCloud is a thing that enables sharing of data between your devices. You take a picture on your iPhone, and moments later that photo is on your iPad, in iPhoto on your Mac, and even the photos folder on your PC. Apple is initially building this into many apps: iTunes, Photos, App Store, iBooks, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Backup, Contacts, Calendar, and Mail]

Why is this important?
Today maintaining state between computers, smartphones and tablets relies on a hodge-podge of technologies:

• Mail is kept in sync using special imap server settings on each device.
• Music is sync’d only with a cable connected to iTunes running on just one computer. Same for bookmarks, photos, iBooks.
• Kindle books, probable the closest in style to iCloud, syncs through my Anazon login. Yet that one login on each device gets me precious little beyond the books.
• Calendars use a mashup of CalDAV, Googles services, and Microsoft Exchange. My address book is in a similar situation.
• OmniFocus todo’s are sync’d through a custom WebDAV folder on my edstrom.net server.
• Dropbox, one of my favorite utilities, also comes close. Their big claim to fame is their open API which many applications have adopted instead of building their own sync layer. And there is certainly demand for it: take a look at all the Dropbox apps.
• Games may or may not save state…

In a lot of ways, I think iCloud is the answer to the old buzz catch-phrase: Single Sign-On. Now I can sign into any device -once- and all my apps, my photos, my documents, my music … will all be there. Outside of the browser window.

“What’s remarkable—and what should be, for any Microsoft shareholders, a deeply troubling sign—is that Ballmer, apparently, wants to do none of this. For him, the PC model is the only option. It doesn’t matter that it has never worked for this market in the past. It doesn’t matter that the tablet needs a new approach to user interface design, one that is fundamentally different from that of traditional PCs. Ballmer wants the PC business model—a Microsoft operating system on commodity hardware—running PC software, and the unsuitability of that software is seen as an irrelevance.”

Apparently though, they have a new tablet to show at CES this year. Given how well their announced-at-last-year’s-CES tablets did this year, it’ll be awesome … oh wait, they never shipped. Never mind.

Anyone else noticing a pattern with Microsoft announcements?

“Apart from seeing how new interfaces for designing, reading, writing and watching movies evolve, I’d like to see a news publisher that surprises us with a really gutsy, innovative, beautiful news product, that is: A product that users really need and are happy to pay for in some way. People that bought papers used to pay for the interface — the actual paper, not the content. Some consciously, some not. We come out of a tradition of thousands of years, where we exchange money for physical goods or are guaranteed hilarious entertainment. Digital information has not changed anything in that regard. We still don’t like to pay for information.”

“It’s a hunk of rubberized plastic with a threaded bushing that will ultimately retail for $15. Last week, its designers hoped to raise $10,000 through the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. In the first three days, the total contributions were $70,000.”

For some reason, I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this one. Manufacturing seems to be one of those things that I am under the delusion you need a full team of people for, not just a couple people in a garage. What is next? Full-sized automobiles designed, delivered, and sold by a 2-person team working from their parents basement?

• Blue Skies
• Corporate Policy on Social Networks

“Microsoft has never been cool, has never had good taste, but their lack of cool and lack of taste are spiraling out of control.”

… in reference to a Staged Funeral for iPhone and BlackBerry.

“Yes, we know you know that in the space of three short years Apple’s iPhone has humiliated the entire cellphone industry. But we bet you won’t FULLY APPRECIATE just how completely Apple has laid waste to incumbents like RIM, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson until you look at these two charts from Goldman Sachs (via FT).”

Remember: 50% of Apple’s revenue this year came from products that didn’t exist 3 years ago. That is some serious change.

Let me rectify this.

iPad:

• The iPad will not replace a laptop. But it will replace more of your laptop than you think. Pick up the keyboard that goes with it, and it’ll be closer still.
• Not having a traditional desktop with files and folders is an asset to the iPad. It makes it easier to use, and easier to understand. If you don’t believe me, walk around your office and see how many people “file” things into their desktop.
• Reading books with iBooks works fine, and is a pleasure. The highlighting and notes abilities are very nice. I’ve read a few books on it now.
• The screen is not useable outside. I tried it on a cloudy day, and the reflection was too much.
• It is far better for consumption than creation. However there are some creative bits that work well on it (drawing, short emails, etc). As such, I haven’t quite found a good fit for using it at work.
• The iWork apps (I have Pages and Keynote) are great, but are not compatible with last-years desktop version of iWork. This is really disappointing, and worse: the iPad Keynote app reads my ancient PowerPoint files just fine.
• There are some really fun, addictive, and innovative games available for only a dollar or 2 each.
• I didn’t get the 3G version, but will next time The ability to pay for 3G access a month here or there would be perfect for vacations.
• Overall: if you have room in your budget for another device, you’ll love the iPad for surfing, social networking, sharing photos, and playing games.

iPhone 4:

I still have a 3GS, and will likely get the new phone (iPhone 5?) next summer.

First, lets talk about the antenna: From what I understand, the antenna thing might be an issue in certain situations, for some people, but for other people, they get reception where they never previously were able to. If you are concerned, get one of the bumpers – it fixes the death-grip problem. If you are really concerned, wait till January. The rumors are stronger than usual, and suggest that January is when there will be an iPhone on the Verizon network.

Other than that, I hear the screen is amazing and the camera is as good as many dedicated cameras. FaceTime is great, and I’m waiting to hear if this latest incarnation of video conferencing will be one that the public actually adopts.

If you’re concerned about an “open” platform and are thinking of picking up an Android phone, I’d highly suggest reading this, this, this, this, or this.

Overall: Apple is still making the best smart phone, at a competitive price. Other phones are at least a year behind in technical capabilities, and if you look at their usability, I have yet to see a report of a new phone that is better than (or as good as) the original iPhone that was released 3 years ago.

“History suggests the mobile Internet has potential to create / destroy more wealth than prior computing cycles based on 10x user multiplier effect (from cycle to cycle, the number of users / units increases tenfold). Regarding pace of change, more users will likely connect to the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs within 5 years.”

You don’t have to read between the lines to get that mobile is a *big* thing, and coming fast. Good read.

“I never make technology-buying decisions based on future promises, rumors, or potential. I let other people be the bleeding-edge extremely early adopters, and I stick with what I know will work and stay out of my way. I don’t buy things that are “getting better”, because they usually don’t. Whatever caused them to be lacking in their current release will usually prevent them from being great in future releases.

I buy things that are great today. They’re usually things that have been great since day one. And, more often than not, they’re Apple products.”

So much could be said about the promises of the future vs the realities of today. You have to make your decisions based on todays reality, because tomorrow’s promise may never come.

“My cloud extends my reach, my experience and my intelligence, making me much more effective as some sort of weird ‘colony individual’ than I could be on my own.   I have no doubt that within a few years, as the tools improve, nearly every decision I make will be observed and improved upon by my cloud.  Which is wonderful, incredible, and – to quote Tony Abbott – very confronting.”

He talks about a few specific incidents where he’s gotten some very useful and timely advice while traveling, and then notes that some industries have seen major shifts due to the ability for people to be hyper-connected. Specifically:

“There’s a direct correlation between the speed at which a motion picture bombs and the rise in the number of users of Twitter.  It used to take a few days for word-of-mouth to kill a movie’s box office:  now it takes a few minutes.  As the first showing ends, friends text friends, people post to Twitter and Facebook, and the news spreads.  After the second or third showing, the crowds have dropped off: word has gotten out that the film stinks.  Where just a few years ago a film could coast for an entire weekend, now the Friday matinee has become a make-or-break affair.  An opinion, multiplied by hundreds or thousands of connections, carries a lot of weight.”

3 days of movie sales down to one … all because we can get recommendations from each other that much faster. I wonder what other industries Twitter is altering?

I only have 167 followers on twitter (Mark has 6800), so I’m not sure that I qualify for the “hyper” prefix. But I’ve posted a few questions and gotten some  select responses. Nothing big, and certainly nothing that has changed my daily use. I can see the potential if I were to expand my social graph.

So then.

I find the technology-enabled social connections interesting, but not yet vital. What concerns me is that what happens when they *become* vital?

I’ve read about kids getting (accidently) left out of birthday parties because the invite went out over SMS and they didn’t have a cell phone. It’s stupid, unintentional, and yet a real problem. Staying plugged in takes time, but it takes cash too. Cell phones have a hefty cash commitment. I guess what I’m wondering: will “hyper” connectivity (and all of it’s advantages) become a class differentiator? Will there be the hyper-connected-have’s and the hyper-connected-have-not’s? The latter of who will be doomed to spend too much money on bad movies the 2nd day of it’s release?

Mark says:

“We can choose to be entirely connected, or entirely disconnected.  We can let the batteries run flat on our mobile, or simply turn it off and put it away.  But there’s a price to be paid.  Absence from connection incurs a cost.  To be disconnected is to cede your ability to participate in the flow of affairs. Thus, the modern condition is a dilemma, where we balance the demands of our connectedness against the desire to be free from its constraints.”

[emphasis added]

I have no conclusions yet, just interest, and perhaps some questions. Hyperconnected Health was a good read.

“Apple makes $3B of profit from its iPhone while HP takes in a mere $500M on its PCs—that’s a 6x difference. The Center of Money has shifted.”

HP is one of the leaders in computer manufacturing, yet for all their expertise, they have to be pretty surprised how fast the center shifted.

I also tend towards using it as a positive: “modern technology” “modern processes” “modern living” “modern project management” — these all carry very positive connotations in my mind. But a modern thing isn’t always perceived as a good thing to all people – you’ve heard their rallying cry “Tried and True”.

Do you see “modern” as being a bad thing? Why?

Introspective bonus points: what would cause you to change your opinion to favor modern things?

“if you work in tech, you should spend some time with an iPad. If it doesn’t change the way you think about what you do, you’re either a genius or an idiot.”

“If the iPhone didn’t exist, I would have the Nexus One in my pocket right now—but then again, if the iPhone didn’t exist, the Nexus One wouldn’t either.”

He talks about how a Nexus One is good for folks that like to tinker, tweak, and modify their devices, but warns that it comes at a significant cost to its usability. If you want something that just works (and you don’t want to hack it “within an inch of its life”) then iPhone is the one for you.

[via Marco]

“So while [techies] trump up our skills at designing “easy to use” interfaces for our applications, millions of people are still trying to figure out how to get our beautifully designed application out of its zip file or disk image.  Or where in fact the Downloads folder is. Or what, exactly, a folder is. [...] I’ve watched firsthand as people who’ve struggled to do basic computer tasks as long as I’ve known them pick up an iPhone and be cruising around within hours, if not minutes. For people who do not already thoroughly understand computers, New World devices are easier to understand and easier to use.”

“A detail from the iPad keynote: Steve demoes the Mail application and he puts it in horizontal mode. Oh, look, an Inbox list pops in. Neat.

And I think, hmmm I wonder if you can resize that splitter, making the source list wider. Its a tiny target, so it would be hard to grab…

And then I realize: you can’t resize it.

And a bright light did shine upon my liberated face and a voice did whisper a thunder: You’re free. Free of pointless preferences and finger-baiting adjustments.”

[via Minimal Mac]

I’m an Apple fanboy to be sure, but what exactly can’t the iPhone do?