iPad - The Freedom Device

Image by Tom Raftery via Flickr

The discussion around the iPad has missed what I see as a vital use case. One that is becoming increasingly relevant in many countries around the world. Previously, I had written about a device that could provide unblocked accessed to the internet and outside world. The iPad is that device.

Coupled with portable satellite broadband basestation and some mesh networking software, a million iPads would make for a very difficult internet access method for oppresive regimes to block.

The iPhone 2.0 is NOT a mobile phone

One of the big concerns I have with the analysis of the mobile phone (for example Om's round up here) is the implicit assumption the iPhone 2.0 is a mobile phone.

It is not.

The iPhone 2.0 is a mobile computing platform. Why do you think the keynote spent so much time looking at the Apps?

Its the mobile computing platform is the game changer. As a straight phone (even smartphone) the iPhone has great usability but is only so-so in terms of extra features (as many a blogger will tell ad nauseum). But as a mobile computing platform nothing compares.

More importantly, Apple is repeating the iTunes/iPod strategy of building a seamless end-to-end system. In this case it is a seamless end-to-end mobile computing platform. One that includes development, hardware and distribution of the applications.

Apple is pursuing an edge strategy that re-defines the general idea of mobile towards the definition used by Tim O'Reilly in his recent Web 2.0 keynote in San Francisco, 2008. It drives innovation to the edge and upturns the existing industry.

iPhone 2.0 is NOT a mobile phone. It is a mobile computing platform.

Tags: iPhone, mobile phone, mobile computing

iPhone Reverberations

It is now several days pass the announcement of Apple’s iPhone software roadmap. We are now firmly far enough away from the reality distortion field we can take stock of what it means and the possible ramifications. John Doerr certainly thinks that the iPhone is the next coming. And I am inclined to agree but I shall come back to my reasoning later on in the post.

The presentation came in two parts; the enterprise features and the SDK. I’ll consider each as both have different effects.

RIM

The enterprise features are aimed at the heart of RIM. Not only has Apple targeted the BlackBerry handsets but RIM’s whole push technology revenue. It is a classic pincer strategy and strangely enough not one that I’ve seen discussed much. By using ActiveSync Apple removes the intermediate steps of the RIM server and NOC. This will be cheaper for enterprises wanting to deploy push email and potentially more reliable, an issue that RIM has struggled with in the last 6 months.

Apple has created a viable alternative to RIM push email technology that is going to have a lower total cost of ownership. The software update is not going to be deployed until June 2008 so I expect that the update will include many other improvements to the iPhone that will make it even harder for RIM. I am interested in whether Apple will work with Google and Yahoo to bring push to the companies’ webmail. In particular push integration of Google Apps would almost make the iPhone a no-brainer for small to medium enterprises.

RIM has six months in which to respond and come up with a strategy to counter Apple. Steady as she goes is not a viable long term strategy. One possible idea is to give the RIM server software away for free/open source it and focus on providing maintenance contracts to enterprises looking for them. But it is not all plain sailing for RIM (and all the other handset manufacturers) as Apple not only announced the enterprise features but more importantly announced the SDK.

SDK

The enterprise features were about selling more iPhones and increasing access to the enterprise. The SDK is about changing the world. The SDK unlocks the power of the iPhone and turns it into a comprehensive mobile computing platform. John Doerr stated it was the third platform and I agree. Does it replace the other two platforms? Not at all. Instead it complements the other two platforms to create ubiquitous computing. Now we have the mobile platform with the computing platform and the cloud platform.

The SDK provides a little something for everyone. For enterprises it allows mobile versions of enterprise applications (ERP, CRM, SCM etc). More importantly the native applications will support offline processing allowing users to continue using the applications when not in range of large of large bandwidth connections. It also allows the applications to send only the necessary data (sync) between the central application and the iPhone version increasing the essential mobility of the platform.

For games developers it provides a mobile gaming console that with the mult-touch interface and 3D accelerometer and high resolution screen offers new gaming styles and game play. The Wii is a demonstration of how a change in interacting with a game opens up new game play. Perhaps the largest stumbling block will be Apple’s historical indifference to games on their platforms. Take a logical step further the iPhone could become a very interesting Wii-like controller for Mac based games. Imagine playing id’s Rage using the iPhone to steer and fire.

Application developers will be able to create applications and mobile versions of their applications that address specific computing needs when mobile. These applications will often be compliments of desktop and web applications. The inclusion of SQLite will do a lot to reduce the issues surrounding EDGE and intermittent connection.

In Conclusion

Like a butterfly flapping their wings only to create a storm, the true impact of the iPhone mobile computing platform is unpredictable. Like Jason said, this will play out over the next two decades. Not having “social” mentioned is hardly a reason to doubt the impact of the iPhone as Fred Wilson does. The point is the SDK is about the how of mobile computing not the what. The what is left up to the developers and users.

All that can be said for sure is how we think about computing and its involvement in our lives is going to radically change just as the PC platform and the Internet Platform changed computing before.

Tags: iPhone, iPhone SDK, Mobile Computing, Apple, RIM

Google and Apple: Joint bid for 700Mhz?

Rumours are circulating that Apple is going to bid for the 700 Mhz spectrum that the FCC is auctioning off. Various speculations over what it could be used for (iPhone MVNO, nation wide hotspot are possibilities) abound. What interests me more is if Google and Apple partnered to bid nation wide.

A partnership between the two would be hugely disruptive to the existing wireless companies. A Google and Apple partnership would bring together Google's information and infrastructure strengths with Apples consumer hardware and design strengths. A complete mobile office and internet access service based around Google Apps and Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch is a compelling combination.

The iPhone/Touch would provide the device that allows the user to access the cloud using the 700 Mhz spectrum. Google would then provide the cloud based services: push email, storage, applications, search, internet access etc. It would become a highly useful enterprise mobility platform while providing the first true wireless, ubiquitous internet platform.

Tags: Google, Apple, Wireless, 700Mhz

Facebook - the next x?

The blogsphere has oscillated between hysteria and backlash against Facebook since the release of the Facebook platform. Some have asked, what is so special about Facebook while others have breathlesssly compared Facebook to Google, Apple & Microsoft.

Now, I personally think the underlying value of Facebook is enormous. However, capturing that value or more accurately realising that value for both the company and users is going to be difficult. More importantly, this will be massively more difficult while people keep talking about Facebook being the next "wunderkin."

Put another way, Facebook is not and never will be Google or Apple or Microsoft or any other wunderkin company. It will be its own wunderkin company that charts a new direction for the industry just as the others have before it. Any punter that talks about Facebook being the next x, will completely and thoroughly miss what Facebook is and will achieve. Do not trust them. These punters are still stuck in the old world and will fail to see the new world.