Let me tell you a story…once upon a time, there was the PC. And computer engineers made things called software for these PCs, and life was good. Then came this thing called the “smartphone” and there was a need to get software onto the smartphone. And so this software had to change and, when it did, it became something called “apps” and the mobile revolution had begun.
With most of the features of a computer in the palm of people’s hands, there was less and less need to be tied to software on a desktop computer, or even a conventional laptop. And so companies were born that began from ideas that were based solely around mobile computing. Slowly, other companies began to follow this example and came to realize the power of what mobile apps in the hands of the consumer could do for them. This trend towards operating in a mobile environment for business has only accelerated in the last 5 years, and will likely continue into the foreseeable future.
The rise of tablets/iPad usage has increased the usability of PC power computing in the mobile environment. This market is the next big niche being exploited by OEMs, with the emergence of Android tablets like the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD as well as the iPad and soon-to-be-released iPad Mini. Go to a coffee shop or airport and look around…how many people do you see that don’t have a laptop with them, but instead are carrying an iPad? Heck I was at a car dealership the other day and I sat next to a guy using his iPad on a stand as if it was a laptop. It was the same with increased development of camera tech into mobile phones, because you may not always have a stand alone camera, but you always have your mobile phone with you. So now you have up to 41MP cameras available in mobile phones.
As the software apps get better, and do more things, they need more resources from mobile hardware…so the hardware has to evolve. And when the hardware improves, which means that previous limitations of the software go away, the software can evolve even more, allowing it to do even more things. This necessitates another evolution of the hardware and so on and so on. In this way, the innovation is actually driving itself, creating a closed loop where change is continuously occurring, for the betterment of the overall technology. Software vendors are realizing there is a need to scale up their smartphone apps and scale down their laptop/PC apps. And companies that don’t have a mobile version of their software right now better have one soon if they want to stay competitive in the new mobile workspace.