Complementarity

Many people are thinking about replacing the iPhone. Various technologies are proposed as substitutes, like wearables, voice control, smart glasses, etc. These technologies are supposed to work together so that people no longer need the iPhone. However, there is no evidence that smartphones are more like iPods that would eventually go away, rather than like emails that probably would stay with us in some form or another, forever.

A alternative is presented here. Rather than thinking about these technologies as substitutes, it's more constructive to think about them as complements to the iPhone. The reason why iPhone isn't going away is deep. It's about ergonomics. No proposed technologies combined can replace the simplicity and elegance of touch controls. Yet there are certainly circumstances that a smartwatch may outperform a smartphone. That's why complementary thinking is constructive.

Actually, it's natural to speculate that, if designed well, smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches will form formidable complements due to device interoperability and cloud sync, so that together they persist as immortal innovations.

Let's see which future plays out eventually.