5G Will Make PCs And Smartphones Obsolete

While 5G will reach critical mass in developed countries by mid-to-late 2019, it will not be until 2020 or beyond when it is so common you can depend on it being everyplace you need it to be. This last step is a critical one: we will have to reconsider where apps run and begin to rethink what apps do. 5G will change what we consider a mobile platform to be because the OS will move as well.

It is interesting to note that when Steve Jobs first conceived of the iPhone, he thought all the apps would exist in the Cloud and not run locally. With 5G we get to see a moment where it looks like Apple was first with the concept, but others will get it right first. This is because Apple is expected to be a year late with 5G and the Cloud currently is dominated by Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

As Jobs envisioned, if you can push everything into the Cloud, you get a number of potential advantages: such as nearly unlimited processing power, offline upgrades and patches that are completely managed by the service, stronger security and a better cross platform-consistent user experience. The Cloud—not the device—becomes important. Consumers would be able to pick the device and manufacturer they like while keeping the user experience they prefer. Devices will include smartphones, tablets, PCs, set-top boxes, TVs, refrigerators, and cars.

One of the most interesting examples of the type of application that will grow under 5G is VR Telepresence. Imagine being able to see (using AR glasses) through the eyes of anyone that will allow you to watch their live stream. You could climb a mountain with a mountain climber in real time and experience visually everything they do, including risk, and possible fall.

People streaming real time will be able to capture crimes being committed and events we might have otherwise missed—such as people in authority acting improperly. For athletic training, you could see a sport through the eyes of the person training you. Telematics can be used to visulize, in real time, what you are doing wrong.

With telemedicine applications, anyone could have access to an expert who could guide their hands in a process to save another’s life. And if we add the parallel development of AI, the person helping you may not be a person at all.

Source: eWeek, December 11, 2018.

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