Did you read Steve Jobs’ letter explaining why he’s down on Adobe’s Flash? I got bogged down and bored by it. But this analysis by Charlie Stross is anything but boring. Excerpt:

If you’re using an iPad in 2015, my bet is that you won’t bother to have home broadband; you’ll just have data on demand wherever you are. You won’t bother yourself about backups, because your data is stored in Apple’s cloud. You won’t need to bother about software updates because all that stuff will simply happen automatically in the background, without any fuss: nor will worms or viruses or malware be allowed. You will, of course, pay a lot more for the experience than your netbook-toting hardcore microsofties — but you won’t have to worry about your antivirus software breaking your computer, either. Because you won’t have a “computer” in the current sense of the word. You’ll just be surrounded by a swarm of devices that give you access to your data whenever and however you need it.

This is why there’s a stench of panic hanging over silicon valley. this is why Apple have turned into paranoid security Nazis, why HP have just ditched Microsoft from a forthcoming major platform and splurged a billion-plus on buying up a near-failure; it’s why everyone is terrified of Google:
The PC revolution is almost coming to an end, and everyone’s trying to work out a strategy for surviving the aftermath.

UPDATE: More from Wired.com, including two former Adobe engineers saying Jobs’ criticism of Flash is right on target.