In the event you didn't follow where I was going with this post and this post, someone has written even more extensively on the same topic. Actually, so has:
This is the future of computing. Will the IPad be that future? It's hard to say. But nonetheless, this is where computing is going. You should get ready, because mark my words, the Windows operating system will someday be like the mainframe punchcard computers of yesteryear. I don't mean horribly technically outdated - I mean that gradually the usage of Windows OS as a personal operating system will go away, and the only place you'll see Windows is in the enterprise or in other more "work" style environments. What the IPad represents is what your children are going to be using, what my grandparents and your grandparents are going to be using. When I first saw the IPad presentation, I was underwhelmed until I went for lunch with a very, very, *very* smart friend of mine when we realized - hey, we're supposed to be underwhelmed - we're not the demographic being targeted. I know that is tough to hear for some of the software developers who read this bog, since you're used to being shunned by polite society anyway!
Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Well, remember that yours truly, the Nostradamus of the computing industry, also previously proclaimed:
- That Microsoft would see the error of its ways regarding Javascript. This was at a time when some of Microsoft's evangelists were all, "Who even likes working with Javascript, right? Watch us spin a couple of squares with Silverlight!" A couple of years later and now we have JQuery as the library of choice with the Microsoft MVC. For those of you who read this that are not technically inclined, "who even likes working with Javascript?" is akin to saying, "Who even likes washing their hands before eating dinner?", which come to think of it, explains Silverlight's popularity in Manitoba!!
- (Speaking of the MS MVC) that the MS MVC was the future of web development, and that WebForms was on its way to being legacy technology. Well, well, none other than Scott Guthrie agrees! "I don't see that anywhere in the article, Justice!" Trust me. In my next post I will use my incredible literary analysis skills (honed from the age of 2) to open your eyes. Again for those of you who don't have a computing background, the difference between the MS MVC and WebForms is like the difference between using indoor plumbing and throwing your feces against the wall - they both resolve the underlying issue but the latter is a heck of a lot messier and was only acceptable in the dark ages.
- Vista would be a flop. And it was such a rousing success that Microsoft actually invited yours truly to an "influencer meeting" across the country where I learned all about how to sell Vista to the enterprise. (I might argue that Microsoft first went wrong in calling me an "influencer", actually, but to be fair they have made some pretty spectacular decisions in the past along with the questionable ones).
I remember wrhen I wrote about why I thought Vista wasn't compelling. Sure, someone chimed in to tell me all about all of the under the hood improvements that would *guarantee* everyone would get it, and as I said back then, "Why does my mother care about IIS7? Or Bitlocker?" But my mother? She'll care about the IPad. And that is why the future doesn't belong to you, or to me - because we're the fringe elements on this one, my friends.
The mainstream is coming. You should get ready.
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