The iPad Revolution & The World I Want to Live In

I just purchased an iPad and realized within minutes that this technology is the beginning of something much bigger. Furthermore, it made me start thinking of all of the different technology devices I own today and how all of this will change.

To provide some insight, this is how I am using my iPad... you press a button and it turns on (sounds crazy, right? my work laptop takes 6 minutes to turn on and load everything before I can open a browser), I can instantly browse the internet with my fingers, listen to music on Pandora, play piano, stream Movies & TV Shows on-demand via Netflix (with no delay and HD quality picture), check my Gmail account, look at my current location via Google Earth, store music, pictures, and videos, directly connect to YouTube, and type this blog post. It also has a 10 hour battery life.

Here is my personal technology device inventory:

• 2 old, dying, barely breathing Laptops
• 1 Laptop for work (did I mention it takes 6 minutes to turn on and load everything before I can open a browser?)
• 1 Blackberry
• 1 iPad
• 1 DVD player
• 2 Digital Cameras
• 2 USB Web-cams
• 2 Flat Screen TV's
• 4 iPods in various shapes and sizes
• 0 Wii's (but don't think it will be long before I own one)
• 1 DVR
• 1 Netflix Account
• 1 MIFI Device (mobile internet & router)

What is even worse, is that with limited success, most of my personal technology devices don't talk to each other. There has to be a better way!

This is the world I want to live in:

• "One Device" will control every piece of my personal technology - mass consolidating my list of current devices
• "One Device" is portable
• This "One Device" is so small it will look like what we all know today as cell phones and it will be a cell phone
• Flat screens will act as big monitors and the device will be able to connect wirelessly to multiple screens at the same time
• Internet will become faster, cheaper, 100% reliable, and there will be free WIFI everywhere I go
• Streaming and on-demand delivery models will completely take over to deliver content
• All TV Shows are commercial-free (I don't have time for commercials) and will be accessed over the internet (bye, bye cable bill)
• No cords will be necessary to charge or connect the device
• Nickel and dimming consumers for usage won't work as a long term business strategy for wireless and content provider (i.e. Verizon offering a 250 mb usage plan?)
• The all-you-can eat models and free applications/products with low-cost subscription based models will continue to win over consumers
• CD's & DVD's will be non-existent - things we tell our kids about

To take it a step further, I believe Apple will provide this "One Device" (the iPad is the first step in this direction), Netflix will deliver the content, and they will absolutely dominate this space.

 A little more on Netflix.... Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, posted one og the clearest business strategy PowerPoint on Slideshare that was brought to my attention from a blog post by Mark Cuban. Everyone should check this out. I also believe they are very modest in their publicly stated business strategy

Maybe I'm just plain crazy and full of wishful thinking, but it will be very cool to see how personal technology will continue to evolve and deliver content to consumers. If the world I want to live in becomes a reality, just remember.... you heard it here first.

- Bob