“Imagine all the other stuff you aren’t thinking about”
This is a quote ascribed to legendary VC Roger McNamee from the Churchill Club’s latest Top 10 Tech Trends event. He was talking on a panel about his surprise at how many people were caught off guard by the popularity of the iPhone. His point was "imagine all the great things that are still waiting to get done with network connected devices". And, no surprise, we completely agree. He (as well as the other panelists there) also predicted that the mobile phone/smartphone will be a major disruptor. He goes on to say (according to this post at Barron’s Tech Trader Daily) that in "…five years, half of what we think of as phones will do something far more profound than what we think of a phone as doing." Again, completely agree.
What’s missing is an upgrade in the vernacular. Phone, smartphone, blah. There will be an explosion of net-connected devices and gadgets, all with new names and functions, that will make the current selection of "cell phones" seem positively paltry. The Kindle is a good example. But where the panelists were strangely silent is on where all this innovation will come from. Do they believe that big companies like Apple, RIM and Nokia will do the disrupting? If history is any guide it will come from somewhere surprising and will be from a company no one is talking about right now.
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