The progress of technology and specifically computing is mostly a cyclical process. Hardware is invented and then applications or software is developed to maximize the use of those devices. At a certain point though, the development of application stagnate, having fully utilized the potential of the hardware. We saw this with the early computing machines, to the pc, and on to the internet, eventually the software catches up.
Most people agree that we are entering the post pc era, or at least an era where our computing center is no longer the pc but the cloud. Smartphones or tablets will be the device of choice for most less intensive computing needs. While I personally don't feel that smartphone innovation has been all that great over the last two or so years, I think the problem lies elsewhere. The big push over the next 5-10 years will be to widen and cheapen Americas bandwidth, it has become too expensive and it is not up to par with some other countries that have a far better data infrastructure. The post pc era wont be able to fully realize its potential until bandwidth is faster and cheaper
