I was just reading the news when I got this: Microsoft Says Your Phone is Your Next PC. Not that they are completely wrong here (not to mention the challenges of switching from what we call today as PC to something that is very very small), but that kinda reminded me about something Bill Gates said it would happen:
People will have small devices, in the size of a credit card, which will hold the person information and connect this person with other people.
Not actual quotes, but he said something along these lines.
Now, look around. Is there a device small enough, of the size of a credit card, which can do what a PC can do? Well, I have one in my desk right now, it is a little big than a credit card. Also, Motorola is coming with the Razr2, which would also have a lot of PC-like features (not to mention iPhone and its Mac/PC view). And the weird thing: none of those devices run a Microsoft system.
Future is ironic.
Lots of “smart phones” are Windows CE-based (the latest stats were like +-25%).
The interesting fact is that Bill Gates didn’t foresee this advancements alone; every futurologist said that, years earlier. Most of the things inside “The Road Ahead” and the other obnoxious book were already coming or being researched; all this means that Bill lives in a isolated bubble, apart from reality.
It happens when you’re filthy rich.