I’ve complained to anyone who would listen that I think much of what is being presented as advancement in personal technology are really steps backwards. The Apple watch is a prime example. Not that things in the watch aren’t new (i.e. processors, sensors, and miniaturization of components) but the concept of a watch is old. The things people will do with this watch are old news and have been done before. It’s overwhelmingly boring.
Microsoft, yesterday, announced something that is to me a true advancement in personal technology that will enable people to carry fewer devices thereby giving us less to charge, lose, and update. The announcement was Continuum for phones. Here’s a link to a better write up than what I’ve written below.
Continuum for Windows 10 phones will bring us close to carrying around a full Windows PC in your pocket. This technology will use your Windows smart phone as the brains of your computing universe. You’ll be able to plug in to dumb screens and connect wirelessly to a keyboard and mouse (Hopefully wirelessly to a screen in the future too). The genius, though, behind this technology is that the user interface will adapt to the screen. In other words, when you have your phone plugged into a 27 inch flat panel your phone will behave on that screen as if it is a Windows PC. I’ve been wanting something like this for years. I no longer want to carry a laptop or even a tablet. I just want one device that can be my computer.
When this first rolls out I doubt any phone will be able to run full non-Microsoft Windows applications but I hope this is where it’s heading. I don’t see any reason why a phone can’t run applications like QuickBooks or light versions of Photoshop. How great will it be to just dock your phone and have it be your computer? You won’t even need any wired Internet or WiFi because your smart phone is always connected.
This technology could kill the PC as we know it today and I hope it does. Cool stuff.
The relevant portion of the video below starts at the 2:22:54 mark and ends at 2:28:05.