Thursday, May 4, 2017

The death of the smartphone is closer than you think - Steve Ranger, ZD Net

And now, after almost a decade of furious change, the smartphone is at the height of its powers. It is our constant digital companion, having absorbed the capabilities of the PC, camera, TV, sat-nav, and more along the way. But -- to misquote -- the screen that shines twice as bright, shines half as long. And the smartphone has shone so very, very brightly.For a while it looked like wearables would be the next big thing, but it is proving just too hard to fit enough processing power and battery life into something like a smartwatch to make it a viable alternative to a phone. And, even if those two problems can be overcome, the screen is never going to be big enough on any wearable for it to be our primary connection to the digital world. That leaves augmented and virtual reality as the prime candidate. However, as smartglasses or mind-reading technology make our relationship with technology even more intimate and difficult to navigate, we may look back on the complications of the smartphone era with something resembling nostalgia. http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-death-of-the-smartphone-is-closer-than-you-think-heres-what-comes-next/