Of course it can change. There are three things inhibiting the use of the smartphone for productivity: most of the software available at the moment has not bee

Of course it can change. There are three things inhibiting the use of the smartphone for productivity: most of the software available at the moment has not been designed for that role, it will take years for the software to catch up in terms of functionality, and it will take years for the market to adopt software that is up to the task. Notice how there is no mention of the hardware above. Processors, memory, and I/O capabilities are already up to the task for many environments. The only unsolved problem in terms of interfacing to suitable I/O devices (i.e. screen and keyboard) is having a universal standard. Of course, the real question is whether it is desirable to invest in bringing the software up to par. Perhaps it is worth it to have a universal platform. Perhaps it is not worth it because the market is not interested in having that universal platform. Note: I am not arguing that the smartphone can replace all conventional computers. Some markets are simply too specialized to make investing in the transition viable. Other markets have no need for portability. Yet other markets will find that the trade-off in capacity or performance is too large. On the other hand, there may be a place for people who want a single device in their life that can adapt to many different situations.