I’ve long said that computers become a lot more interesting when they’re no longer computers. Computers as we know them are just far too complicated, having been designed to do anything and everything that can be imagined. Unfortunately, the average computer user doesn’t need a device that allows for an infinite number of uses – most users probably have requirements to only use a handful of applications at most, and most of these are what you’d expect: email, web, word processing, image processing, etc. Obviously, this isn’t a new idea. Thin computing, dumb terminals, cloud computing – there is a long history of ideas designed to lighten the computational load on the local host and offload it to another location, thus also allowing for the local host to become far more simple.
So what will the future look like when filled with embedded systems? I’m a big proponent of the “personal wide area network” and “local cloud” computing. I believe in the future you won’t need one device that does everything. Convergence will continue for some time, as people become more entrenched with smartphones, but I believe that in the future there will once again be a divergence and specialization of devices. Of course software platforms are the key, but there’s no reason why simple, specialized hardware with embedded software can’t replace complicated hardware+software combination… I’m reminded of Life Alert – that pendant that the elderly can wear to signal for trouble. Or Nike+. Both simple pieces of hardware that connect to other devices to perform more complicated tasks for specialized purposes.
So what happens when we stop thinking of smartphones just as phones, or PDAs, or gaming devices, but we start thinking about the smartphone as the hub of the personal wide area network? Imagine a range of simple, embedded devices with wireless capabilities that you can choose to accessorize on any ocassion. Perhaps the watch you love. Or glasses with HUDs.
In the future, your trusty iPhone might just act as the “local cloud” for your own PWAN, with each device connecting for specialized functions and UI moving from software to hardware interfaces…
