I don't think that tablets or smartphones will "kill" the PC (desktop or laptop), but I do think things are lining up to allow the computing world to become more diverse and less of a monoculture (Windows running on Intel).

- Robust and fairly standardized HTML5 support allowing complex applications
- Webkit and Firefox allowing good standards support for the web for many different platforms and players
- Increased use and familiarity with smart phones and other non-PC devices (iPads, Kindles, etc. ...)
- Increasing market share for Mac, iOS, and Android
- Microsoft's Vista black eye

And most importantly:
- The non-geek public is coming to realize their devices only need a good standards-based browser and maybe a place to get apps for that platform (As long as the device does the web fairly well, it can be useful.)
- They do not NEED to have Windows to survive and be productive; it is just one option among many

What I think and hope we are approaching is a tech world where standards provide a basis for minimum (yet still useful) functionality and the different platforms compete on style and added value BEYOND the basic necessities. This will give us a thriving and competitive market where things continue to improve. I hope.

http://john.osbornecentral.com/

I'd be willing to bet the reason they removed the ExpressCard slot is that the iPhone OS 3.0 supports tethering, and 3G access is by far the main reason to add a card. Most people who were likely to need the slot needed it for cell access, and now there's another (better for Apple) option. It is not perfect for every situation, but that is how Apple tends to operate.

Why not consider a compromise? Let the ISP's run QoS (not blocks, and only when qualifying traffic was present like weighted fair queuing), but only on a certain percentage (say 50%) of available bandwidth on each link AND in aggregate. This would allow them to come up with creative business deals to protect certain traffic including their own, but leave half the bandwidth as "net neutral" allowing good throughput for other stuff too.

In effect, it would be like having two pipes, one of which was pure net neutral and could "borrow" from the other when qualifying traffic was not taking up its portion. Most of the time there wouldn't be that much qualifying protected traffic, so the actual available bandwidth would be better than the assigned percentage.

Aside from that, bandwidth caps and monopolies are different problems requiring different solutions.

If was only a little smaller, had a great interface to play music and movies, and you could run VNC, access the device with WebDAV, and you could install inexpensive apps on it (say $0.99 and up) from an online store. Yeah, if only there was device like that.

Well until then, I guess I'll keep using my iPod Touch.