Video Essay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbMUysaXFZ0 for non-readers
I've long noted that Microsoft did not miss mobile; their error was in trying to extend the PC paradigm to mobile. This not only led to a focus on the wrong interface (WIMP via stylus and built-in keyboard), but also an assumption that the application layer, which Windows dominated, would be a key differentiator.
Apple, famously, figured out the right interface for the smartphone and built an entirely new operating system around touch. Yes, iOS is based on macOS at a low level, but it was a completely new operating system in a way that Windows Mobile was not. At the same time, because iOS was based on macOS, it was far more capable than smartphone-only alternatives like BlackBerry OS or PalmOS. The key aspect of this capability was that the iPhone could access the real Internet.
Notice that the Internet is not just the web; in fact, while Apple wouldn’t launch a 3rd-party App Store until the following year, it did, with the initial iPhone, launch the app paradigm which, in contrast to standalone applications from the PC days, assumed and depended on the Internet for functionality.
We recently had a conversation in the Lab about where AI might be heading. Someone mentioned that agents could be the most likely candidate for driving the next wave of innovation, with all the current infrastructure serving as the "steel beams" supporting what's to come.
According to Ben's logic on the evolution of computing, Natural UI is likely to be the next big thing in the coming years. It's exciting to think about how this progression could influence the future of innovation. We're already starting to see this movement take shape within @PlebLab—@Jippi is experimenting with a form of Natural UI on a phone, @cascdr is building tools akin to a "Zapier for agents," and few teams in Top Builder are exploring similar concepts.