Anybody notice how the world in mobile and smartphone communications is turning upside down this week?

First, the release of iOS5 from Apple, which will change our iPhones, iPads, and iPods, and the way they sync. iOS5 is the first PC-less operating system for these Apple devices, which means that you will be able to buy and use an iPad or iPhone online without ever syncing it with a computer – which is going to allow my mother-in-law to have one (or anybody else who is not PC friendly). This alone is going to crowd the airwaves with face-dialed calls, and the support lines will be giving us busy signals for quite a long time to comer. A huge proportion of the advance orders for iPhone 4s are coming from people for whom this will be their first smartphone. Combine this with the release of iCloud, the new replacement (free) for the old mobile me service, and you have the recipe for a week of confusion.

At the same time, “Blackberry Meltdown” seems to be infecting the entire world now – while it started in europe and the middle east, it began spreading to North America today. RIM has been (in my opinion) falling behind technologically for some time now, including the disastrous release of their first crippled tablet, and Apple and Google have just been waiting to eat their business-oriented lunch. My largest client (the world’s largest manufacturing company) is in a genuine panic over this, and has permitted more and more execs to migrate to the iOS platform, despite the feeble protestations of their IT crowd.

A few months ago, I wrote to complain about being too “plugged in”, 24 hours a day.

They may be giving us a break shortly.

JRR