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Apple’s secret to popularizing new categories
When the iPhone and Android emerged, they provided a definitive answer to the question, “What comes after the smartphone?”. While Nokia phones from the early 2000s provided glimpses of the future, only these two platforms managed to sustain their success over the long term.
The post-PC era, often misinterpreted as the complete replacement of personal computers, actually ushered in a decentralization of many tasks previously confined to computers. Not even tablets represented a complete upheaval.
Remember when the iPad came out and was supposed to revolutionize personal computing? Well, it didn’t. Tablets have remained a niche market, as multimedia entertainment devices.
Apple has come back swinging with the Vision Pro, augmented reality and virtual reality glasses that promise to be much more than just a toy.
But what does “spatial computing” mean? Is it really the next era of computing?
The iPad was a success because it met a need: to offer a mobile, comfortable, and portable computing experience. However, its limitations were clear. The mobile operating system, designed for touchscreens, was not powerful or flexible enough to offer a complete computer experience.
