Reflecting on technology in the last ten years

It boggles me how much technology has changed in the past ten years. Moore's law seems to be holding to form, and gadgets/computers seem to be getting better and better, and smaller too. It makes me wonder, where does it all end?

I just purchased the new iPhone 3GS and I started to think about how much more people could ask of the tech companies. Obviously, the processors are going to get faster, and the hard disks are going to get bigger (solid state is next). Megapixels are not going to matter anymore. Internet will be lightning fast, everywhere you go. Any information you desire will finally be at your fingertips no matter where you are in the world.

Coming from a Blackberry, I'm astounded by the accessibility of internet on the iPhone. I didn't expect it to change my life the way it did: I barely use my computer anymore, save for typing extended pieces of writing. It automatically synchronized all my bookmarks so I have everything I need with me, whenever I have a free minute on a bus or on the couch. Given, the iPhone does not have Flash yet, but it is only a small matter of time.

The addition of the Compass app this time around makes me think that maybe things are already beginning to slow down. Maybe the swiss army knife of phones does not have anything left to invent or innovate. How many more features can they add? I can think of a few, but for God's sake the thing has only been around for three years. I can only imagine where we will be in ten years.

With only 5 months left in this decade, I've embedded an old Apple press conference video for your perusal. I hope to god Steve has a speedy recovery from his transplant and sticks around indefinitely. He may not give the Apple keynotes any more, but in my opinion, he is the driving force of the technology industry right now. I just have trouble believing this was less than ten years ago.