The iPhone…what exactly is it? Is it a phone? Is it a portable web device? Is it an iPod? It’s all of those, and then some.

Apple has given us a device that shows us a glimpse of the future. What lies ahead? Only Apple knows, but I can hazard a few guesses.

iPods

The iPod’s current “clickwheel” navigation system has been proven to be intuitive and easy to use. It’s one of the features that placed the iPod ahead of the pack. Could Apple be contemplating replacing the clickwheel with an iPhone-style touchscreen?

People have been clamoring for a widescreen video iPod. The iPhone is not that iPod. It is too expensive and, well, it’s a phone. The current iPod lineup includes the 30-80GB iPods, the smaller flash-based iPod Nano, and the screenless iPod Shuffle. The full-sized iPods can play video, while the others can’t. Could Apple replace the hard disk-based iPods with a new iPod model featuring a touchscreen? It’s possible.

I doubt that Apple would totally kill-off the clickwheel, but they could remove it from the video-capable models. Could they go beyond that and introduce web surfing features to the iPods? Who knows, only time will tell.

iComputers?

This may be wishful thinking, but I sure hope it isn’t. Though we may not see it in the next ten years, I think it’s inevitable that we’ll eventually have a pocket-sized computer.

For those who don’t mind Windows, there’s already the OQO. This gadget is a full-featured computer with a 1GHZ processor, a 60GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and a 5-inch 800×600 display. Though it’s a bit big, it’s a real computer you can almost fit in your pocket.

Why should Windows users have all the fun? I’m sure Apple could build something like the OQO, only smaller and better. The iPhone runs on a scaled-down version of OS X, so it’s the first step. With their MultiTouch technology and their technical expertise they could do it.

I don’t think this idea is too far-fetched. Today’s technology may not allow an iPod-sized Mac, but I bet it will eventually. In a few years, there will be a shift in the way computers are used. I think that we’ll all carry computers in our pockets one day. We’ll keep a monitor, keyboard, and other peripherals at home along with an external hard drive for storing less-used files. You’ll just plug your computer into a docking station and enjoy the benefits of full-sized input/output devices. Oh, and we’ll have 5MB/sec wireless data services for reasonable prices. Heck, while I’m at it, Apple’s Mac OS will be the mainstream operating system and Mozilla Firefox will be the dominant browser.

Pocket computers may be 10-20 years away, but I think we may be getting a touchscreen iPod sometime much sooner.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 9th, 2007 at 10:05 pm by Matt and is filed under Apple, Features, Hardware. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.