The Phone Wars
“The more things change the more they stay the same.” Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr said it well over 100 years ago and this phrase is still true today.
Today’s example of this well worn phrase is the present day mobile phone wars. Today’s smartphones are pocket personal computers that happen to make phone calls. In the mix we have names like Apple, Microsoft, Blackberry, Google and a few others vying for your attention with their various handsets.
Well back when the personal computer was first starting out we had names like Apple, IBM, Microsoft, AST, Commadore, and a slew of others doing the very same thing. Do you notice anything similar about some of the names in these two lists? Apple was there then and is there now leading the charge. Thirty years ago there was the personal computer (PC) revolution led by Apple. Today there is the smartphone revolution led by Apple.
Apple has always been an innovator. The first Apple computer, the Apple II, was the start of the personal computer revolution. Of course Microsoft
and IBM had different ideas and ended up winning that war. This time Apple’s iPhone is the revolutionary piece of hardware and today Google is trying to be the Microsoft of this revolution.
In both revolutions, Apple was the supplier of both the computer and the operating system. In the previous one, Microsoft was the supplier of the alternative operating system and IBM (and many others) the maker of the hardware. In this revolution, the Microsoft role is being taken by Google and the IBM role by companies such as HTC, Motorola, LG and many others.
This new revolution is the very reason that led Steve Jobs to say that we’re now in the “Post-PC” era.
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Tags: android, Apple, google, IBM, microsoft, mobile, smartphone
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