

IPhone and iPad are terribly boring, what's next? - eniax
http://blog.shoutem.com/2012/12/06/iphone-and-ipad-are-terribly-boring-what-is-next/
Interesting take on the evolution of new technologies. It is true that iPhone updates are more and more obvious and that we miss that WOW effect that Steve Jobs use to provide. What's next then?
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freehunter
These devices are boring because they just keep getting better without really
changing at their core. So what would make them better? Software that just
keeps getting better without changing at its core. It's like saying you're
bored with the Xbox 360 so you're just waiting for the new Madden to come out.

I'm not seeing the point of this piece. It doesn't offer anything in the way
of information. It's a fluff piece that can be boiled down to "things are
going good, so let's just keep on moving forward" with the call to action of
"hey mobile devs, have you ever thought of developing for mobile devices?"

I would even argue that the big innovation isn't coming from software next,
it's coming from hardware. Notice that the big talent is switching back to
hardware? Just because Apple's profit margins don't push them to make another
huge innovation doesn't mean that no one is innovating.

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vikot
Point is that there is no much room to inovate at hardware level. Both Apple
and Samsung are doing great devices now. Which is actually good. Software is
where we might see some exciting stuff coming. Yes I'm bored with gaming
consoles as well. Only innovation comes from games it selves. Kinnect is an
exception.

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freehunter
"No more room for innovation" could have been said about everything in
history. After the cell phone came out, there was no more room for innovation
because it was a handheld device that fit in your pocket and let you make
calls anywhere. What more do you want? After Windows Mobile, it was a pocket
computer that let you program and install applications and browse the web.
What more do you want?

The reason it's easy to discount past innovations and say that hardware is
perfect now is because past innovations have already been developed. They've
already been made, and they already exist. They're obvious now. Future
innovations are not obvious, that's why they're innovations. The better
software called for in the blog post is just minor iterations like a new
Madden (that's a really innovative game). Meanwhile, the Kinect has already
been made, so of course the Xbox is perfect and hardware is dead. Pay no
attention to the fact that Kinect wouldn't have existed if people thought the
same way you do.

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ChuckMcM
TL;DR - Software and infrastructure is more important than hardware.

Not a new observation but one that is worth thinking about now and again.

One of the interesting things I observe about mobile devices is their use as a
function of their connectivity. Which is to say tablet with no network
connectivity isn't as useful as a tablet with network connectivity. The
networks are growing, but outside of major metro areas they still aren't
great. The previous generation of laptops carried enough along to be useful
during long periods of no connectivity [1]. So things like maps that aren't
maps unless you're connected are less useful. (Google finally caved on that
slightly which I applauded)

Perhaps the next thing is better reference tools. As a search company I get to
see a lot of things people search for and reference searches are still a big
chunk of search. That is however a place that could easily be disrupted by
localized data. All of Wikipedia, maps, phone books, dictionaries, etc etc etc
are actually small enough to carry around now. Sure you want updates to come
from the web but the main corpus? Doesn't change that much. Who is going to
build the Encyclopedia Galactica?

[1] I remind people sometimes that 'networking' was an add-on feature for the
first laptops.

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bearinatux
I personally feel that things have become a bit stale on the hardware side all
around, even with the new Surface release.

I'd like to see in-device projectors soon, but is there a more useful device
addition to be had? Wireless charging, maybe?

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cwe
Microsoft could take the lead and put kinect in their phones, and use their
photosynth tech to automatically build 3d immersive photos. Would certainly
one-up panoramas in iOS and whatever the Android clone of that is called.

Project Glass is definitely interesting, as another commenter mentioned.

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saturdaysaint
Linkbait headline with little relation to the meat of the article.

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Domenic_S
I really hope we're not in an 'Innovation == everything gets faster' cycle.
Right now IMO, software needs major help.

Ex: I love my Roku to death, but the interface is so buggy it's like using a
Flash app from 1999.

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vikot
Imho it is actually good. Because Apple has too much power and can blackmail
developers. If there is no hardware advantage and iPhone and Android devices
get on the same level, more power will go to developers and not platforms.
They will have to compete to keep devs on boards.

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gte910h
I predict 2 front facing cameras or 2 rear facing cameras and 3d imaging
software builtin to the iPhone 6 or iPhone 7

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eniax
That's already out there, I think HTC EVO has it, and it is amazingly boring.

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gte910h
When HTC EVO does it, a TINY focused number of people get to play with it.

When apple puts it into their one premiere phone, millions of people will have
it and interesting 3rd party software is worth making then.

