This is Apple's grand theory of the computer market

Over the past several years, there's been this idea floating around the technology industry that smartphones and tablets will eventually cannibalize laptops and desktop computers.

As a result, we've seen all sorts of devices that combine the attributes of both mobile devices and larger computers, such as laptops with detachable keyboards.

Apple doesn't look at the computer market this way. Different types of computers, regardless of their form factors, all fit together on a continuum.

"Ideally, you should be using the smallest possible gadget to do as much as possible before going to the next largest gizmo in line," writes Backchannel's Steven Levy, who spoke with several Apple executives including Phil Schiller, the company's senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

Here's how Schiller described Apple's philosophy to Levy:

These two worlds are different on purpose, and that's a good thing?-?we can optimize around the best experience for each and not try to mesh them together into a most-common-denominator experience.

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