January 2nd, 2013
Few hours ago, Ubuntu for phones was unveiled by Canonical in a move that is anything but surprising, at least for those following Tech news closely. In a 21-minutes long video, Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical and ex-CEO, gives a fairly extensive look at the new OS (as debatable as the term "new OS" is), with a focus on new User Interface paradigms mostly reminiscent of Nokia's pioneering Meego swipe gestures.
Ubuntu on phones won't ship properly until 2014 (although it could run on Android devices present today), but that is not why I am writing this. Nor am I overly excited about the promised new interface, as much merit as some of its ideas have. Instead, what piqued my interest in all of this is the convergence of your whole computing experience: It doesn't matter what device you're using, be it a phone, a tablet, or a laptop, the experience is the same and, most importantly, all of those devices should work seamlessly together, so that when transitioning from one to the other, your workflow (or fun-flow, really :P) doesn't get interrupted.
It doesn't matter anymore when this is going to happen, what does matter is that it is going to happen.
If the idea sounds familiar, that's because that's what Windows 8 promised, or at least that's what I thought it did, and was a bit disappointed by it. What Canonical is doing here is confirming my initial view (and really, the view of many others) that that's where future computing is headed. It doesn't matter anymore when this is going to happen, what does matter is that it is going to happen.
The race for ultimate convergence has already started, and betting on Microsoft, Apple, or Canonical to reach the finish line first couldn't be less certain. I excluded Google mainly because it lacks a solid desktop OS offering, although I'm still not sure whether I'm rooting for Android or "Ubuntu for phones" as the open OS of choice (take it as you like). However, all of these companies are sure to take notice of Canonical's new computing proposition, and that, my friends, makes all the difference.