Kiss your ipod goodbye

So why am I being the apocalyptic prophet of the portable-music devices doom? Simply, because I saw the future and iPods were not there! For the uptight readers, I'm just kidding. I didn't see the future, I'm just predicting based on the direction technology is going AND social trends.

Truth is, phones are poised to inherit the world. Everything than can be done on an iPod can be done on a phone, and then some.

This is why I personally think that companies investing in "beating" Apple in this market are wasting their time, resources and money. Instead, they should focus on the next big thing. The establishment of mobile phone as the corner stone for everything that has to do with digital and communications. From music, to networking, to sharing, to gaming and even life saving. The phone is going to be there.

Frankly, if it was up to me, and I had the ears of one of the executives at Microsoft I would really urge them to focus on the future, and dump all these side attractions in Zune and the rest of useless project that have no future, and have only been created to compete with an overly saturated market

The way I see it, the poor sales of portable music devices isn't due to anything other than the fact that anyone who wants one has already got one. It's not about the features anymore. A first generation iPod does just about everything you need. So why upgrade if everything works? That's why the new iPods are not going to succeed. Mainly due to the competition of their older, widespread, and very successful ancestors.

Now focusing back on the future, I would say, focus on the phones. Make sure they are everything people need. Phones should replace every device you have from PDA (already dead), to personal-music devices, to "viewers" including, future tablets, current book readers and other less successful video devices. Add to this list, a replacement for all portable gaming devices, a replacement for GPS devices and a replacement for satellite radio like XM. (Some will say digital cameras, but I kinda believe that this one is going to hold its own due to the superiority of the camera's optics)

The future of the phone is extremely promising. With it replacing even car GPS. Just imagine, wouldn't you prefer to use a car that has a built in navigation screen that is based on a Phone or one that knows nothing about communications? Just imagine the one based on a phone updating its software, upgrading its OS, getting you live data and even making phone calls for you.

But before all of this can come true, people who have the potential to do it, namely: Google, Microsoft, Nokia and Apple need to sober a bit up. Shift their gears and vision. And go do it.

The future of the handheld is going to be the descendent of the modern day smart phone. There's no doubt in my mind about this. The first to realize this challenge is going to be the pioneer of this market. With the companies mentioned above having enough experience and enough financial might to really go after this.

Services will also follow. Designed and targeting the new phone based smart appliances. From refrigerators to cars. They'll all be connected, and so far, the only viable proven alternative has been the phone.