Apple’s innovations will have a dramatic effect on how shoppers behave, says Steve Robinson

Hot news: Apple launches a game changing device with a large-format screen, PC-like processing power, object oriented graphics, an innovative user interface and the ability for third parties to provide applications. The year: 1993.

So, the Newton MessagePad was a failure but, as we now know, its cancellation in 1997 by Steve Jobs on his return was an au revoir rather than a goodbye. It went back to the drawing board - Jonathan Ive’s drawing board, to be precise - and the iPod (2001), iPhone (2007) and iPad were born.

Is it a game changer? Definitely. I may be atypical, but all I use a laptop for at home is surfing the net while I am watching TV, or using the BBC iPlayer, or listening to internet radio or Spotify. Try doing any of that with an Acer 7520 series balanced on your lap.

Do I really need a keyboard? I certainly won’t when speech recognition is finally cracked, as it will be.

I don’t need a mouse; a touch screen is fine, thanks. Our grand­children will be laughing at us - you wait.

A screen is handy, but if I need a bigger one there’s a cheap LCD I can link to in every room. Memory? Not essential - Spotify has all the music I need and movies will be next to come on demand.

My photos are all stored by someone else online, too. Processing power? All done remotely or the need for it drastically reduced by clever apps. Practically all of my time on Microsoft Word is taken up by typing, deleting, saving or opening. So the iPad-like device is here to stay and will, I am sure, be emulated by all, just as the iPhone has been.

So, what difference will the iPad and iPhone make to the world of retailing? Well, the iPhone is already making a difference. There are apps that can grab barcodes in a store and look for the cheapest supplier of a product and an app that can locate a product in a large Tesco store. This, I hear, has become very popular with Tesco staff.

You can even buy something you see in a TV advert on your iPad while still watching - is anyone happy doing just one thing at a time any more?

I call this ‘omni-commerce’ or ‘o-commerce’. You can try to register the URL if you like, but I have already looked and it costs $10,000. To think of online commerce as ‘ecommerce’ just isn’t appropriate any more - the lines are blurring and will disappear.

But it’s not all good news. Consider a world where you can rate someone you have been served by: “Debbie is a bit grumpy, so I only give her 4.6 out of 10. Here’s a picture of Debbie and a recording of what she said.”

And, if online commerce forces shops become just showrooms, how will retailers pay the rent? Are they going to have to charge an entrance fee so customers can feel, touch and try on the goods? Is that what they mean by ‘retail theatre’?

Steve Robinson is chief executive of M and M Direct