This recent development is part of a much larger, industry-wide trend: the traditional lines between mobile, laptop, and desktop operating systems are getting b

This recent development is part of a much larger, industry-wide trend: the traditional lines between mobile, laptop, and desktop operating systems are getting blurry – and perhaps may disappear altogether for many consumers in the coming decade. Consider: * Apple is making OS X more and more like iOS. Will they eventually be merged into a single OS? Will they eventually run side-by-side (e.g., insert your iPhone into a dock, get your full desktop)? * The newest desktop version of Windows, which is tablet- and touch-ready, looks and feels just like Windows Phone – will they eventually be merged into a single OS? Will they eventually run side-by-side? * Android, which got its start in phones, is showing up in more and more unexpected places, including many large-screen form factors – Motorola’s Webtop 3.0 is just the latest example. * Google and Mozilla are trying to make the browser a universal application platform for all kinds of devices – desktop, laptop, and mobile (effectively, they want to abstract away the underlying OS). FWIW, some new web applications already run on all platforms without modification (e.g., Trello – see http://blog.fogcreek.com/building-trello-com-for-multiple-devices/ http://blog.fogcreek.com/building-trello-com-for-multiple-de... ) * With GNU/Linux infrastructure available everywhere, other smaller players are making similar efforts. For example, Ubuntu can now run side-by-side with Android, and is gradually becoming a viable desktop, laptop, tablet, TV, and mobile OS with single universal interface: Unity. * More and more end-user applications are becoming, effectively, front-ends to services that truly reside in the cloud; and consumers want access to these services from all their devices, mobile or not, ideally with a consistent, unified user experience. This profound shift will likely shake up the industry, because it's not yet clear who the ultimate winners and losers might be. Things are bound to get very interesting...