A new technology wave has begun … and the consumer rules

Apple has ushered in the next technology wave, the one where normal consumers are now in the lead. In the financial industry where I work, techies have always been the early adopters for new products ranging from online banking to bill pay. This began to change with the iPhone. iPhone owners have become the early adopters to mobile banking, followed by other smartphone owners. Techies are third.

The reason is that anybody can download an application from the app store and it works. And it is easy. No longer is it like getting a wireless router for your home and spending all weekend trying to make it work. This was a source of pride for the techies. For the rest of us, it was “I going to wait for one of my geek friends to figure this out for me.” Now, we no longer need to wait.

Phase 2 of this phenomenon is the iPad. It is simple, it’s sleek, and it is ooooh so powerful. It has access to almost all of the 150,000 + iPhone apps and already has several thousand apps of its own. iTunes redefined the music industry. The iPhone redefined the cell phone industry. iPad could redefine a bunch of industries:
· The laptop (and in most cases the mouse) is likely dead. It is hard to find a reason to have one anymore.
· The publishing industry. They hope it will provide the basis for a profitable subscription model. Regardless, the industry is going to go through a major change.
· TV. Why not watch what you want, whenever you want via the Internet. Steve Jobs will likely get the cost of a TV show down to $.99 (and I’m sure CSPAN, PBS and many others will be free). You won’t need a TV or cable unless the manufacturers get lucky and hook you on 3D.
· Bye, bye Microsoft. Office like apps for the iPad cost $10. Microsoft no longer controls the operating system or the browser. It will be a slow and painful death.

Banking?? Who knows? Most consumer banking will be done via a smartphone or tablet in the not so distant future. Me, I'm thinking of giving up my IBM Selectric.