We know lately perhaps some meetings with overtones of mysticism and technological futurism definitely: Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s. CEO of OpenAI, the company that changed the world’s perception of artificial intelligence; and Apple’s former head of design, who left his mark on a company’s aesthetic that’s still relevant today.

As he said, together InformationThey held these meetings to talk about how to approach the creation of a new device based on Artificial Intelligence.

The thing after the smartphone or the thing after the smartphone

No one has been able to explain whether these conversations are considering the option of maintaining the smartphone as a perfect consumer device or whether they are aimed at surpassing it and becoming another form factor to replace it.

The death of the smartphone will come one day. We don’t know if it’s six years or forty years away, but we’re going to have to get over it at some point. They have been devastating for many reasons, but they are not immune to discomfort: We can leave them behind, forgotten; It is the glass bricks that are more durable but still fragile and have a prominent enough field of view to keep us busy today.

Later We’ll have to see what comes in its place. For now, we have a few new suggestions, all focused on body devices. Humane’s with its disturbing holographic clip, Rewind’s with the necklace as a record of everything we say and hear, or Meta and Ray-Ban glasses as a bridge to leverage Meta AI.

Many more will come, but only some will survive and endure.

The arrival of iPhone and Android completely changed the standard of industrial design of smartphones, which in turn changed the entire industry.

Of the six on the right, only Samsung survived this way. Sony differentiated itself from Ericsson and its sales stalled; Nokia was taken over by Microsoft, liquidated and then sold to HMD. After several changes of ownership, Motorola continues to sell under its own brand, although it is far from the same relevance as in years past. LG stopped producing mobile phones, and BenQ not only had to close down, but even auctioned off its assets on eBay. The market is cruel.

Although it may not appear in the right column, Google is another big winner of the mobile era. Hardware sales will be a rounding error compared to Samsung’s, but Android has been brutal, too.

What’s coming now? No one knows, but we have some certainties.

On the one hand this Switching to a watch or glasses to replace a smartphone is still far from a real option. Smartwatches are becoming increasingly independent, intelligent and autonomous, but they can only achieve a fraction of what a smartphone can offer. Glasses are gaining capability and have the advantage of increasing field of view and integrating cameras, but autonomy and miniaturization are still huge challenges. Apple still doesn’t recommend glasses, but it does recommend something helmet-like, with a two-hour runtime thanks to an external battery and a price of around 4,000 euros.

On the other hand, accessories that we see in the form of body tools (rings, bracelets, pendants, headphones…) Here they are, accessories.

If Altman and Ive limit themselves to creating the so-called ‘iPhone of AI’, which is no small thing, and manage to propose a permanent AI-based path for the mobile phone, iOS and Android will begin to tighten their ties and the smartphone will walk.

On the other hand, if they can move beyond the smartphone with devices that are sufficiently complete and compelling in terms of power, capability, and user experience, we will begin to see an end to the mobile phone on the horizon, just like us. I had once stopped carrying an MP3 or paper agenda due to the cell phone performing its functions. and smartphone will explode.

in Xataka | Sam Altman is clear that “there are jobs that will disappear, period.” Which is not so obvious.

Featured image | Xataka.