What's the way out? Become less connected? Go back to fixed function hardware? Is there even a way out without shedding layers of abstraction? Is there even a way out at all, or is this our new brave new world?
Battlestar Galactica phones?
No, but I think we will eventually go to peer-based mesh networks with smarter clients. The reasons are:
1. Mobile devices keep getting faster and have more memory- they aren't and shouldn't be dumbed-down clients peddled by telecom companies to get them to buy their services.
2. People don't want to pay for things they shouldn't have to, like interconnectivity, if there are enough devices for everyone to pull off the network without help.
However, we can't think about anything digital nowadays without factoring in AI, the problem is that once you do that, things become quite unpredictable...
For certain, there will be a fight, on one side governments ans control structures trying to increase their control, and on the other regular citizens trying to live the way they once did.. althogh.. that may already be impossible..