Will Apple Define The Future?

The year is 2030, Microsoft is virtually no more. With Bill Gates’ resignation 22 years previous, three virus ridden and rather lacking operating systems, both missing their original release dates by a couple (and then some) years, and several failed pieces of hardware that promised to ‘revolutionize’ the IT industry, it was bound to happen. On top of its failed ventures, the one-time big cat has also been eaten up by even larger cats (excuse the pun), most notably, Unix and its famous child, Mac OS.

Unix is still floating about in several forms on modern day PC’s, but it’s the high-tech OS XV developed by Apple that is taking center stage with the innovative companies’ market share up at around 80%, a pleasurable number among Apple fan-boys, I’ll have you know. How did Apple get there? Well it was, of course, its beautiful selection of hardware at a variety of costs aimed at students, average home users, hardcore home users and business folk, built with the fabulous OS XV, nicknamed Canadian Hairless—Apple had by this time begun using obscure cat names as all the big/decent ones have been used. Whilst Microsoft has continued to slump with dull products and questionable operating systems, Apple Computer has been innovating and trying new ways to help the IT world function, and this has lead to its success.

The iPod I hear you ask? Why, what’s an iPod? We haven’t seen those for a good 18 or so years now. Oh no, welcome to the modern day, we’ve got the voice-activated iChip now, a small device the size of a french fry (I had you with chip eh?) which can store a good 10,000+ CD quality songs on it—a quick touch of a button will display a screen as well, although don’t get me started on how this works because I’ve not sussed it yet, great video quality I’m told though. Did I hear someone ask what happened to that Zune player Microsoft released and the other hardware companies striving to ‘kill off’ the iPod? Well, they’re all still working on killing off the iPod, despite its death back in 2012.

So, Apple leads the world in mobile music and personal computing, what’s next? Well, that’s probably not as important as all the court cases it’s going to get. Unfortunately for Apple, whilst its success derived from a combination of beautiful machines and exquisite operating systems, said beauty is also going to be its falling point, as governments and corporations all over the world become more and more frustrated with Apple for keeping its operating system stuck on Apple’s own computers. Companies such as HP and Dell want a piece of the action as well you know, having been stuck with using Microsoft Windows for all those years, it would be nice for a change.

Unless…

...Rewind! Of course, with the death of Microsoft and the popularity of Apple Computer taking over, there’s going to be a spot for the 2nd place, so who will take that? The open source community is ever growing and with the Linux systems becoming more and more stable, companies such as Dell could possibly buy or develop their own OS and compete head on with Apple. It’s certainly not impossible. Could this then be the way forward for personal computing? Hardware companies coding their own operating systems to fit perfectly with their own computers.

What about mobile media? The iPod revolutionized mp3 players back in 2001, with their popularity becoming so large that other companies will have surely given up competing with them. But what if a company such as Dell became as big as Apple is becoming now, at present, and uses that power to push forward the sale of a beautiful and innovative media player of its own? Again, not impossible, but in realistic terms and given how Apple have developed something so pure in the first place, it’ll still be a challenge.

As far as predicting what other products Apple Computer will release in a good 22 years time is ridiculously difficult to say and that’s not really the point of my writing. But is it not possible that, when, not if, Microsoft finally dies off with its incredibly out-of-date ideas, Apple will be able to lead the way forward for personal computing?