Those following Hamid's blog over at ShipSoftwareOnTime.com have probably already come across the iPhone Desktop article he published.  If not, check it out; it's better than this article.  It's more detailed, laying out some of the specs we conjured up. This article's more of a behind the scene's look at how we ended up with the idea and the mock ups.

Since its earliest days, Axosoft has promoted its version of Google's "20% Time" -- time developers are encouraged to explore side projects and new technologies.  This time, the side project was more of a non-developer thought experiment.  Hamid and I wanted to throw around some ideas, mostly for fun, just to see what we would come up with if we tried to design a feasible computer for the not-too-distant future.  We spent about a day on it.

Axosoft actively tries to ensure we aren't the candle company working day and night to produce slower-burning, smokeless wax while the guys across the street are inventing the light bulb. Sure, no company's road map is crystal clear, and spending too much time "figuring out" the future is a waste of time (as if).  But, jumping into "futurist" mode is great fun for some people, and it has the potential to spark great new ideas.

So, if you try this thought experiment at home, I bet one of the first axioms you'll probably settle on, like we did, is that computers have always gotten smaller and faster and will continue to do so. No huge revelation there...just take the Computer History Museum's guided tour, and it's pretty clear.  Or "walk" through their virtual timeline, and you'll see computers shrinking from room-filling mammoths to Ataris, PCs, Laptops, and the MacBook Air or the OQO.

Our initial discussions seemed to persistently take us down roads that kept leading to the iPhone: Small; Internet everywhere; All-in-one device; Powerful enough to satisfy the "mainstream;" A true combination of mobility, ease of use, versatility, and power.

But it also needed to be something people could actually work on.  For example, if a new cell phone the size of nickel is unveiled today, would you necessarily want it?  Probably not.  Would you need a needle to dial phone numbers?  We still have human-sized hands and ears, so phones are only only going to get so small.  At least until there's some huge convergence of technologies that makes a nano-phone embedded in your clothing a viable option.

Likewise, near-future personal computers can only get so small before they're unusable.  I don't think anyone would replace a laptop with an iPhone for full-time computing, no matter how powerful it becomes, because it just wouldn't be comfortable.  Even with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, you're still staring at a 3" monitor.  That obviously won't cut it.

But, what if you could dock it into a workstation? Our idea started off as a docking station you'd plug your iPhone into at home or at the office. But, wait a minute, those workstations could be anywhere -- or everywhere -- actually: Starbucks, the airport, the library, your hotel room, etc.  You could work on any number of docks, but it would always be YOUR computer.  How cool would that be?

I doubt we were the first people to think of this -- but we didn't come up with a match on Google. We did find a Dvorak article, though, where he wrote about why the iPhone would never replace the desktop computer...the antithesis of our conclusion.  Obviously, we think he's wrong.

So, we decided to do a relatively detailed article with a Photoshop mockup to back up our vision.  It only took a few minutes for us to spec it out and to realize the iPhone would probably be inserted directly into a monitor versus standing in a cradle next to it.  After a few hours and about 70 image layers, I got it looking good enough to accurately convey what the iPhone Desktop we envisioned was all about. 

For kicks, here's the iPhone Desktop image with some of its layers scattered about:

Then, we had to come up with a name and a tagline.  iPhone Dock was no good, because it already exists -- Apple sells a charging and syncing station that goes by that name.  So, we quickly settled on iPhone Desktop.

The tagline was a bit more challenging, but we didn't spend too much time on that, either.  We came up with four off the bat:

1. Set your Leopard free.
2. Unleash the Leopard in your pocket.
3. The Leopard's out.
4. Is that a computer in your pocket?

We settled on #2, and slapped it onto the image, Apple-style (though the font is definitely off a bit).  We picked the price-point out of mid-air, but we both think it's feasible. 

I'd have to spend at least a week to fully flesh out all of my thoughts and to create proper images to help convey them.  For example, I think the dock I placed in the OS is all wrong.  I'd expect those applets to appear in the Dashboard when in Desktop mode.  The dock would be used for beefier software.  There would probably be fantastic Dashboard / iPhone integration, in fact.

I think Hamid's article conveys a good 80% of what we talked about, and the last 20% would take way too much effort, for our purposes.  And, that's what Apple engineers are for, anyway.

Final thought: after mulling over the concept, sketching and spec'ing it out, thinking about all of the possibilities -- it no longer seems like a question of "if" but a matter of "when."  If Apple's NOT already working on some variation of this idea, I'd be surprised. What about you?  Do you think this is the model for the future of computing (the next 5 - 10 years or so)?  If not, where are we headed?  After all, if it's not this, it's something.