Will Perl

April 10, 2009

Although I am not sure on the specifics of my project yet, I think I would like to build a website about iPhones. I'm not sure if my project will have relevance in the future, because I can see two different paths for the future of iPhones. In both cases I would be surprised if there is still a product known as an iPhone, but I think they are evolved from the iPhone (and similar smart phone technology), so I will still refer to them as iPhones.

            First, the iPhone may evolve into a computer powerful enough to replace laptops for many people, maybe even desktops. Even now, there is some debate as to whether the iPhone should be categorized as a computer or a phone. Today there is a trend of "Netbooks," which are small (about 10"), portable laptops with wireless internet access anywhere. The iPhone is like a netbook with cell phone technology (calling, texting, camera functions), trading off for less computing power. However as technology allows smaller, more powerful devices, I don't think it would be shocking to be able to fit a full computer's worth of power into something as small as a cell phone.

            If this were to happen, my website's scope would drastically increase, to a point where I would probably no longer maintain it. Currently, I think my website will be about the specifics of the iPhone that make it a special cell phone, such as the App Store (the ability to download any applications created by anyone from your phone, wirelessly) and it's other features. They are what make the iPhone stand out compared to other smart phones, and worth looking at. But if the iPhone develops into a full on computer that just happens to be small enough to work as a phone, these special characteristics would not be as special, as the iPhone would start being more comparable to a computer than a cell phone. Thus the (probable) focus of my project, of what makes the iPhone a special phone, would not really translate into the iPhone as a computer.

            The second potential future I see for the iPhone again is related to the trend of the Netbooks I mentioned earlier. It may turn out that no matter how small and efficient the technology, even if it were possible to fit a powerful computer into something as small as the iPhone, that people will not want to sacrifice the full keyboard and other benefits of a more normal sized computer. I know that the cramped, difficult keyboard on my iPhone is the main thing in my mind that separates it from my laptop. If, down the road, there is no progress in making small but usable keyboards on cell phones, I think Netbooks will replace the computing benefits of the iPhone, and phones will go back to just being about calling and texting.

            In this future, my project would again die. The iPhone would basically split it's distinction. To me, the iPhone is special because it is a phone but can also perform many of the tasks I do on my computer anywhere I am. But in this potential future, Netbooks would become portable and powerful enough to take over this role, so that I can do these tasks on my computer anywhere I am! There would no longer be any need for forcing such computing abilities onto a phone, so the phone would just be a phone, and not be the special cell that my project highlights.