The recent war between Google and Apple over the place of maps in iOS underscores how firmly the tech world has come to favor smartphones as the ultimate convergence device. That Apple and Google are now locked in a struggle that formerly belonged to Navteq and Tom Tom cements the fact that, by my estimation, the days of single-purpose devices are numbered. This includes point-and-shoot digital cameras, GPSs, Nintendo DSs, candy bar phones, calculators, radios and mp3 players.
