Source: WiredAcademic
Archives For post-PC era
More Post-PC Era Evidence: Six scenarios where the iPad is trouncing the PC
Yet another indication that we are moving into the Post-PC era. As the article summary indicates, Jason Hiner, the Editor of Tech Repulic is no Apple fanboy (advocate) but even Hiner can’t ignor just how much of an impact the iPad is making in the following areas:
- Business meetings
- Couch and nightstand
- Conferences and events
- Airplane flights
- Quick kiosks
- The kid machine
I have to agree with Hiner and can personally attest to all but the kiosk uses. Later this summer we will be deploying iPads for our admissions/recruiting advisers who will be using the devices in a kiosk service scenario so this makes it six for six. While these six points or uses are significant, Hiner missed a few more areas where the iPad not only trounces the PC but is impacting other other aspects of our lives.
Auto Travel – All you have to do is take a multiple day drive or extended trip with an iPad equipped with cell coverage and you will not want to travel without the device. The basic mapping app provides enough functionality and view that you will not want to rely on a traditional GPS or a smartphone. Viewing travel pictures, videos on the wide screen is a dream and lets not forget about how amazing video is on the device.
Education – The current rage in K-12 and Higher Education is mobile learning and the iPad has become the go to device that many school districts and Universities and colleges are currently deploying. Whether the iPad is used as an access device in the form of an ereader or as in input device for note taking or media creation Education is just starting to “scratch the surface” of the opportunities mobility provide.
Google’s purchase of Motorola not only provides an opportunity for the developers of Android to unify the operating system on a single platform they represent a very strong competitor to Apple. While these two factors alone are significant perhaps even more significant is Larry Page’s recognition of the short and long term impact of technology by pointing the fact that:
Many users coming online today may never use a desktop machine, and the impact of that transition will be profound–as will the ability to just tap and pay with your phone.
Google’s purchase of Motorola is just one more very significant building block in the Post-PC era.
The browser is just one more area Microsoft is loosing market share. I use Chrome and Firefox so I am not surprised by this change. This just one more sign pointing to our move into the Post-PC era.
In the article Four Ways the Post-PC Era Differs From Today in Forbes, Maribel Lopez makes the argument that the Post-PC era is not just a shift to mobile devices it is a shift in computing as we know it. Lopez points to four unique attributes that will characterize this era:
- Computing is no longer a destination.
- Cloud enables meaningful mobility.
- The Post PC era destroys and rebuilds the software industry.
- Mobile and the Internet of Things enable contextual-intelligence.
We really shouldn’t be surprised by the impact of the cloud. The Gartner Group, in their Top 10 Technologies for 2011 and the New Media Consortium in the Horizon Reports have been predicting this for several years.
