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That's a toughie. Apple's had an extraordinary decade that'll be hard for them to top. I certainly think it's prepared to have another extraordinary one. But whether it'll compare to the decade of the iPod and iPhone and iMac is a bit trickier. That said, I'm going to bet on them surpassing themselves. The iPad is a truly extraordinary device, and Apple will spend years and years making it more and more powerful, more accessible to the public, and easier to develop for. (At least, I hope that last point is true.) At the same time, they're continuing to evolve the Mac OS X to a point where it's really differentiated from Windows, and serves a different kind of purpose for different consumers. I think they might see a resurgence in laptop/desktop popularity. In fact, I'm certain their desktops will become more popular, especially with the huge screens; the laptops will get more popular unless they're eclipsed by some future brilliant iPad. I'm also going to bet on the Apple TV seeing a lot more attention than it's received so far. I have the latest one and it's a beautiful little box. I can see them doing a lot to innovate in the world of streaming video and music. They've got the iTunes store, after all, which is still expanding. And they've shown hints in the last two years that they're looking at new innovative ways to deliver content. I know the iTunes LP hasn't seen much attention recently, but systems like that which add more content to the music we listen to have the potential to really invigorate the music world, especially if they give indie artists access to those tools. It's possible that the iPhone will soon see a peak, especially if competitors finally rise to the occasion. But I predict it's still going to rise in popularity. And the iPod touch still hasn't got a decent competitor. Certainly no music player comes close. Maybe the 3DS can compete with it as a gaming platform, but the 3DS isn't attempting to be a universal device like the touch. The new millennium has been kind to Apple. I don't know if they'll be able to keep up their momentum for another ten years, but I wouldn't rule it out either. |