Apple is widely believed to be releasing new Macs next week and I am celebrating this long overdue update to the MacBook Pro by replacing my existing MacBook Pro with a Linux laptop from System 76. This isn’t one of those “Apple sucks posts” but I did want to go over briefly why I find myself moving away from Apple platforms and in to the open-source arms of Ubuntu Linux for my production needs but am still firmly entrenched in the i-ecosystem for my content consumption and light office productivity needs. Generally speaking, I am making a bet that the puck is going toward Linux powered AI.
Let’s start with content consumption. I ‘own’ over one hundred and eighty movies in iTunes, over fifty albums on iTunes, and a family subscription to Apple Music. I also have a number of newspaper and magazine subscriptions that just frankly have far better user experiences on iOS than Android. Basically, I’m pretty highly invested in the Apple content ecosystem, so moving away from Apple totally would be costly and more than a little wasteful. Also, I am pretty happy with the Apple TV / iOS devices / iTunes setup.
There’s also the issue of time’s insistent march on. iOS and mobile platforms in general are extremely mature. That’s great for users but less than exciting to me as a developer. Don’t get me wrong I still love iOS and Android development, but it’s just not that exciting or bleeding edge anymore. The sad fact being that both those platforms are very mature and most apps are just re-implementations of commonly accepted design patterns; that goes doubly for those that are clients to relatively simple REST APIs.
Going forward for the next five to ten years, I think there’s going to be some serious action in the field of AI or ‘bots’ if you prefer. In my opinion most of the most significant innovations are going to be on cloud-based Linux servers that power these pieces of software. Of course mobile platforms will likely be the most common front-ends for this type of software, but my guess is that will be in a more limited thin-client capacity. That’s the bet my Twitter followers may have figured out that I have been working on some side AI bots for months now and that’s where I think this is all ultimately going.
Let me know what you think especially if you think that I’m crazy! If you’re curious, the laptop I went with for my MacBook replacement is the Lemur by System 76. The Lemur joins my home office’s Ratel as the second machine in my growing Linux / System 76 fleet.
