Having watched the day one Keynote from Microsoft, and Jensen Harris’s overview of the leading 8 principles in Win 8, I now have more questions than actual answers. Namely, can we ever expect Microsoft to separate rather than encapsulate the legacy PC desktop from the Metro one?

My comprehension quickly gets foggy as soon as I envision the vast spectrum of current Windows customers crossing paths with Windows 8 for the first time. Questions like, why two IE browsers exist on the same device, but don’t keep tabs in sync. Or why virus protection is still necessary if Apps are completely vetted for security? Why is one layer so utterly different then the other layer?

Is the desktop actually an application within Metro, or is Metro an application with the desktop? It’s a hall of mirrors, one encapsulating another, encapsulating itself, ad infinitum. Which one’s real/authentic/original/______?

Further reading:

• Steven Sinofsky - Keynote Day 1

• Kyle Baxter - One Platform to Rule Them All

• Jason Snell - Windows 8, iOS, and the future [via John Gruber]

From the original UFO base station, Apple released the AirPort Extreme, giving way to today’s Time Capsule, an easy to use backup solution for your Mac. With the introduction of iCloud however, we’re seeing less and the less the need for local media storage. If our files can retain themselves in the cloud, and in sync across all our devices, then what’s the purpose of needing them locally? Well, for starters space. So how can we better invent a system to store files locally in this post-PC world?

Exchange the idea of the Time Capsule with a localized iCloud Hub. A storage device that mediates the entire households specific media (purchased and not), and caters well to iOS devices. Setup would be a synch, seeing as you can already setup an AirPort Extreme or Express using iOS.

The idea of a centralized hub isn’t a new one, many of us I’m sure have dabbled with NAS or even Mac Mini’s as home entertainment centers, or media hubs. This vision though, is catered specifically to those entering this market for the first time.

The Vision

Activate the device, join its network. Bridge it to yours as wire it as you would normally with a router or standard AirPort device. Access the device via Settings from your iOS device, add each iCloud credential in your household. Trigger which files for each account you want merged with the device, Music, Photos, etc.

By offloading your entire media catalog you completely free the space utilized on your iOS and PC devices. Your entire household has access to their specific account to retroactively see or manipulate all of their media content. Seeing as Music Match can already host your entire music catalog, for those not willing to subscribe yearly, they can offload it locally and use Home Sharing or AirPlay from the local iCloud to stream media wirelessly without tolling their iOS batteries.

Better yet, include two Thunderbolt ports into the actual hardware of the iCloud Hub and allow an easy sync solution to your PCs. In this way you can quickly offload all your media contents quickly, efficiently and free up all available space previously clogged by dated media. Keep local only what’s relevant to you.

The Everything Hub

In the initial setup, it would be helpful to have an option to segment a separate partition of your choice dedicated to Time Machine. Seeing as iOS won’t need it, and now that your media is stored off your actual PC, backing up should take a fairly minimal amount of space, even if you’re supporting multiple PCs. Adjusting the allotted space can provide adequate redundancy for your most recent backups.

Migration Assistant can utilize this as well. Seeing as your unique iCloud ID provides safe access to only your specific media files and back-ups, plugging in a new PC over Thunderbolt or WiFi can get you immediately restored and running again.

Ideally the hardware internally of the device will allow for TBs of storage, itself backed up, and extremely easy to expand. I can imaging being able to add a second iCloud Hub simply by plugging a new one into another Thunderbolt port, and immediately doubling storage. Though this gets out of my realm of expertise, I’m sure the Genius’ at Apple can manage much better than I.

The Magic

What I do see though, are a variety of interesting case studies. Currently if you want to import photos, you snap them with your camera, plug it into your PC and use Aperture or iPhoto to import them.

iCloud will do a fantastic job of storing your last 1000 shots, which can leveraged in this case. On import, iCloud can upload your shots, Events, etc, and automatically download them to your specific iCloud account on your iCloud Hub. iPhoto itself can option on keeping only your last 1000 photos stored locally on your PC, and remove the rest as soon as their safely migrated to your iCloud hub.

Imagine being able to offload all your media and content immediately, safely backed up, and available to any of your devices via a single unique login. Maintain an uncluttered hard drive, and have access to your entire media catalog via iOS.

Ideally the iCloud Hub provides a solution for consumers to retain enough storage space, safely guarded, and safely backed-up in a method that allows post-PC device users to get away with using just iOS devices on a more regular basis.

In effect this creates a straightforward path to where the PC itself becomes a redundancy, less needed since media can collate together in a single, non-screen device, that is extremely transparent, and extremely easy to use. It can be the wireless hub for our homes, or the data center for your professional needs. Either way it can facilitate our daily digital interactions in a simple, clean and magical manner.

To innovate is to play. To envision is to predict.

And predictions are often wrong. So while we have a great many visionaries in the market, few are leading innovators.

Can you find and train people to understand the distinction? And can a company be open and understanding enough to allow play? Is this the root of Apple’s success over Microsoft’s? Or Google’s back and forth in public opinion?

Maybe it takes a special kind of person or mindset to take a completely unique vision and innovate from it.

Gruber:

How do you replace the irreplaceable man?

You don’t. But we’re not replacing him. Steve Jobs is still very much alive, and still very much ingrained in Apple. So yes, while it may be the end of an era, there still is opportunity to understand the dynamics of what makes Steve Jobs an irreplaceable man.

Buddha chose not to write his lessons, and instead relied on his disciples to spread his teachings; we no less will tweet them. So be honored you spent a generation with Apple under his vigil, and reassure yourself that while you may have missed your opportunity to see him on stage, you at least have YouTube.

I appreciate Amazon’s ability to create application quality web services, but I think Amazon missed an opportunity with Kindle Cloud Reader. If Amazon’s Cloud Music Drive can upload content via your PC and allow you to stream it globally, all personal literary content should be afforded the same opportunity.

The Kindle way is great for linking notes and bookmarks between devices, but the extent of reading isn’t devoted solely to purchased content. While I keep a number of books in queue on my Kindle, my daily amount of reading is dedicated between services like Instapaper and Dave Pell’s Delivereads.

To be kinder, Kindle should utilize my already prevalent storage space via Amazon’s Cloud Drive and retain my non-purchased literary content. Capped at an already finite amount of space- notes, bookmarks and items can remain synced across all Kindle services.

Truly utilize the open nature of the web to surprise and delight customers.

Apple released the iPhone in 2007 with 16 original applications. The default application list has grown since to include applications like Voice Memo and Compass. My question is will it be strange for Apple to remove retroactive applications?

For example will we always need a Stock or Weather application now that it can be included in the notification bar? Or are people using the Compass application enough to really justify it taking up a permanent position on our device?

More importantly, can we completely replace the phone application and rely solely on FaceTime and iMessage? Sure we can rely on third party applications like Skype and Google Voice, but is it weird to think we can completely forgo voice calling completely, and instead rely on real-time video chat as default?

Can we get used to a world where you’re constantly face to face with those you communicate with globally, even when they’re strangers? It’s less a question about the technology, and more the social insecurities involved. But I’m certainly curious.