There are hundreds of articles online about “the death of” something, maybe thousands. I’ve written several of them covering everything from the death of cards (debit and credit) and keyboards to the end of branches, cash, banks and more but they are all still here, so let’s not expect their expiration to be too fast.
Having said that, the latest prediction of death is the iPhone:
Rotten Apple: are we finally watching the death of the iPhone?
Twenty years of iPhone has led to a massive trillion dollar valued company. The question is now: what would replace the iPhone? The answer is: AI-driven, and it is being created by the iPhone designer Jony Ive along with his BFF Sam Altman.
It is a way away – end of 2026 for announcement with shipping in 2027 is the best bet – but the context is that this will be the new megatech that replaces phones and laptops.
Interestingly, this has been bubbling for a while and the nearest you get, right now, is Meta’s Raybans. But Ive claims that their creation will not be glasses but something way better called the companion (working name). This is being developed by Apple legend Jony Ive – designer of the iphone and more – and Sam Altman – the guy behind OpenAI/ChatGPT.
These two guys have been building a mysterious new device, yet to be in public domain, rumoured to be not a wearable but pocket-sized, contextually aware, screen-free. Sounds fascinating.
From a fast investigation, it sounds like a ring, or something like that, which talks to you and you can talk to it. It not only talks to you, but possibly shows you through a projected screen all you need to know. Who knows? As you can see from this video, there’s little content released but rumours abound.
The bottom-line however is that it supplants a laptop, tablet and smartphone as our next generation consumer device, creating a new market worth more than a trillion dollars for OpenAI. This is why Sam and Jony have created a new firm called io, after OpenAI acquired Ive’s company AI for $6.5 billion in 2023.
Big number, big change, big vision, big names.
So, if you could do this, what would you create?
Me, myself, I would create an ear piece.
This is because Ive and Altman have clearly stated that their design is to stop people using screens. So, it’s not a laptop or phone. Meta has Raybans. What else would you need?
Well, obvs, an ear piece that is contextually aware and that you can talk to. It’s your in-ear companion. Tell me how to get to 1620 arcardia avenue, and it tells you. What is Fibonacci’s sequence, and it tells you. Tell me the latest news headlines, and it tells you.
That would be my idea anyways. What’s yours?
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...