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Where is the future of computing going? It's hard to say, but it's shifting right now and two big companies are likely get hurt, Microsoft and Adobe.
Why is Microsoft still the number one OS, because of three things, games, enterprise, and the fact that it's installed on most new computers. Alright, maybe four, because people my age don't see the world evolving around them and like things they way they are? This could still fall under the three, just file it under enterprise. Why is Adobe still in the web market? No real web developers I know use their tools other than Flash and Photoshop. Their design tools are still the standard for industry designers, which is Adobe's one saving grace. Enterprise will likely be Microsoft's. Will Flash survive the canvas tag in HTML 5? Doubt it... Will Microsoft be able to compete with hand held Internet gaming, like on the iPhone, and cloud computing in the near future on their non-standard browser? Doubt it... I really doubt their attempt to copy Google will succeed and Silverlight will be in the same boat as Flash. Google is very aware of this future. Android, Chrome, and Chrome OS really are the future for the majority of future home users, not because of the software, but because it focuses on what the youth sees as productive computing. The heavy OS with tons of expensive, platform dependent, software isn't where things are going. Most users do their non-gaming work in the browser or on their phones. The canvas tag will open up gaming and multimedia even more to this type of web OS. If Ogg becomes the audio and video codec standard and Apple sees this as a benefit to iTunes it could revolutionize the web, and desktop computing in general! Apple is a big company like MS so we all know what will likely happen there and it won't be the best choice I'm sure... It will be interesting to see if Google's tools take hold in the tablet market and possibly even gains a good presence in the smart phone arena as well. With their tools being free and mostly open this really pushes development and innovation that will cost Google nothing. Seeing how well HTML has done in a short time only gives you an idea of where the canvas tag could go in a short time as well. I think Apple is capturing the future of gaming and are also heavily promoting what the youth sees as productive computing. It also doesn't hurt that these applications are mobile and cheap. I believe Apple will come out with a tablet that will be able to run the same applications purchased for the iPhone with equivalent hardware features. If Apple were to get big game companies to develop for OS X as well as the iPhone using OpenGL, I won't mention other OpenGL based platforms, you start to see Microsoft's problem. Add in the fact that canvas can deliver audio, video, and 2-D/3-D gaming, it looks even worse. OS X maybe a heavy OS, but it has a more web friendly attitude and there will be huge games, at least for awhile, that will need this type of OS. Apple and Google have already positioned themselves well into the media content delivery market, which is what people want these days. Whether it be a game, e-book, news, video, or song is no longer an issue, it's all entertainment. The days of get your music here and your book there are ideas from the past. Getting into the car to get these items is already becoming a forgotten idea. Cable television companies also have a lot to fear, but that's another discussion. As for applications, unless you're creating the big content most people only want a way to store and manage their lives. Web computing and applications are nothing more than life tools - tracking family and friends, sharing media with family and friends, and communicating with family and friends. Just like life you meet people along the way, run into old friends, and occasionally put things in storage for safe keeping. The little image editors and similar utilities these people use is no different to me than having a hammer in the toolbox in your basement, most people don't need a air gun nailer. The browser just makes sense and it does not need Microsoft's business model. The web will continue to advance past Adobe, because it's a fairly simple technology that anyone with an interest and an idea can master, and the canvas tag is familiar, free, and easy, Flash is not. Why canvas is so cool... Software Games Dynamic Content Injection Resources Canvas w3c Canvas Apple Canvas Mozilla webGL |
