The T-Mobile G1 Google phone is set to start hitting the markets soon, and with this hanging in the air other companies are stepping up Android development. Motorola announced they too will have an Android phone, putting the focus on social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook which will be optimized for the smart phone. This kind of move certainly indicates an attempt to move in on a younger audience rather than the business professional that smart phones have typically targeted.
The kind of future we can expect if this trend continues is a move away from a "PC" based world. Generally speaking, most casual computer users have a computer to do fairly simple computing. They will check email, watch videos, and chat. The line between what a phone can do vs. a computer is fast blending. It may be the case that within ten years PC's might become relics, useful only for fairly specific things in the home. In a way, it is possible that we will become the computer, at least in the figurative sense.
If we always have our computer on us in the form of a smart phone, then users will always be switched on. This smacks of dystopianism, but it seems to be a possible outcome, and one that Google is certainly not deemphasizing. Android itself is intended to be a revolution in the way phones are used and looked at, definitely blurring the lines of distinction by importing computing functions or features into a phone. This is speculative on my part, but as evidence mounts to suggest that smart phones are the new computer and that the conversion to a general audience is likely instead of smart execs or IT professionals, the momentum will only build.
Garett Kopczynski is an IT professional for the City of Keene, NH and has been involved in the transformation of the IT group as it increasingly explores cloud computing and other next-generation initiatives. His hands-on involvement with Google Apps, and its impact on the IT environment in a municipal government organization, gives him unique insight into other applications of Google within (and beyond) a corporate office environment. In addition to his role as an IT professional, Garett has also been involved in ongoing research efforts for a number of "future impact" technologies such as e-waste and open source vs. licensed software.
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