Apple cuts cord on the PC

One of the most significant announcements that Apple made at its Worldwide Developers Conference was that iOS devices were going to have their cords cut. Up to now, users of the iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad have needed have needed to connect their new devices to a Mac or PC and then activate them via iTunes. But with the release of iOS 5 this fall, those devices can be used right out of the box, with no need for iTunes to be part of the experience.

There was also Steve Jobs’s comment that the Macintosh has now been demoted to “just another device” that’s no longer the “hub of the consumer digital experience.” Instead, the hub is data stored on the Internet, in “the cloud.”

What it all adds up to is this: Apple is pushing the Post-PC era forward in a big way, and there’s going to be a lot of fallout.

Apple’s announcement and vision, expressed by Jobs at WWDC, changes the equation as to what role the PC will play in the future, and how users will interact with their devices. With a new set of cloud-based services to allow application purchase history, management of music through an online service, and added synchronization among devices, Apple has united its ecosystem and its long-term vision into a coherent whole. While the Mac has been demoted, iOS has been promoted to a new level of prominence.

The removal of the requirement to connect to iTunes doesn’t just mean that Apple can now sell iOS devices into households with no PC. It also means people have even less of a reason to turn to the PC for many day-to-day tasks. New features in iOS such as basic photo editing, a more robust mail and browsing experience, and seamless connection to the TV screen (via Apple TV) boost the versatility of these devices, which will lead to increased sales.

Apple’s message is clear: If one Apple device is good, two are better and three even more so.