The death of the smartphone is closer than you think. Here's what comes next
Every technology rises, then falls: soon it will be the turn of the smartphone. But what will replace it?
The arrival of the original iPhone back in 2007 heralded a revolution in how we use computing power, transforming it from something that sat on a desk in a PC that got used nine-to-five, to something that we carried in our pockets and accessed all the time.
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.
Smartphone innovation is grinding to a halt. There's just not that much more to stuff into a handset, which means that adding a curve to the screen is now considered the state of the art. Our smartphones are over-filled with clever features that most of us don't even know exist, and certainly have never used. In many countries the market is saturated.
zdnet.com
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