Apple defines and leads the personal portable computing revolution
Saturday, June 14, 2008 - 09:55 AM EST "Calling the iPhone just a cell phone would be a mistake. Over the past 11 months, it has morphed into a handheld computer. With its new 3G connections and the promise of an abundance of PC-like applications, the iPhone appears to be on track to become a personal portable computing platform in its own right," Tim Bajarin writes for PC magazine."When the new iPhone was launched this week, most of the folks covering it focused on the 3G radio and the low price. To be fair, some of the media did talk about the software, but I can't emphasize enough the fact that it is the software, coupled with a PC-class OS and Web browser, that will help make the iPhone the most portable computer on the market today—or even tomorrow," Bajarin writes.
"Why is this important? Think about the original PC. It was a great box, but pretty much worthless without software. In fact, it took VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet, to show the world that the Apple II was not a toy," Bajarin writes.
"If Apple successfully creates a portable computing platform that delivers a true PC experience in the form of something that fits into your pocket and sells at an affordable price, it could emerge as the number one player in this segment pretty quickly. The iPhone, with its PC-class OS and browser, combined with services like iTunes and the soon-to-be-launched iPhone app store, create an ecosystem of hardware, software, and services that will make it very difficult for competitors to respond in kind quickly," Bajarin writes.
"I believe that this kind of thinking is what's really behind Apple's iPhone push. The company is on track to take a leadership position in this pocket PC market and, in the process, perhaps define what the next generation of truly portable computing is all about," Bajarin writes.
Full article here.

And that's got to really piss off Steve Ballmer.
Didn't MS have a tablet OS?
This will be fun to watch.