This interesting post by Horace Dediu offers an analysis of factors responsible for the obvious recent shifts in the popularity of hardware and OS. While focused mostly on the decline of Microsoft and the rise of Apple, the most interesting insight for me was the claim that the shift in decision making from company executives to individuals has driven a large portion of the change. Standardization is less important as individual choice in what it takes to get a job done is now allowed.
I assume that the focus on Apple and Microsoft can be generalized. How will issues of cost and openness play into future decisions?