Whither IT, part 6 – more consequences of cheaper computers

Yesterday I blogged about one obvious consequence of the cost reductions that Moore’s Law brings to us with computer technology: the likelihood of ubiquitous computing in the next few years. Today, I’ll blog about three other consequences:

Disposable computers
Multiple computer gadgets for everyone, not just one
Shift in power, as scarce technology becomes a commodity

Cheap Computers Means [...]

Whither IT, part 5 – Cheaper computers

In yesterday’s blog posting, I wrote about the likely impact of significantly faster computers that we can look forward to in the future. Today, I’ll explore another dimension of improvement suggested by Moore’s Law: cheaper computers. In rough, general terms, the computing power that costs me $1,000 today should cost $100 in five years, and [...]

Whither IT, part 4 – Faster computers

As I discussed in yesterday’s blog posting, Moore’s Law tells us that we should expect to see computer technology becoming ten times more powerful in the next five years, and 100 times more powerful a decade from now — in such key dimensions as speed, cost, size, and storage capacity.
Let’s start with the dimension of [...]

Whither IT, part 3 – Three cheers for Moore’s Law

As I suggested in my previous blog on this series of commentaries on future trends in the IT industry, we could probably spend several years improving things even if computer hardware didn’t change at all. But the fact of the matter is that hardware has changed, and will probably continue to do so for the [...]

Enterprise 2.0 seminar in Rome – May 2010

I just finished presenting a two-day seminar on “Enterprise 2.0” in Rome on May 19-21, 2010. You can download the 57.3-megabyte PDF file by clicking on the link above, or the image below, or by viewing/downloading the presentation from my Slideshare page. A few of the slides may seem rather cryptic and mysterious, but if [...]

Whither IT, part 2 – the importance of advancements in hardware technology

Here’s an interesting question to consider: would the IT industry improve during the next, say, five years if there were no improvements in hardware technology? Think about it: no new mainframes from IBM, no new desktop computers from Dell, no shiny new Powerbooks from Apple. No breathless announcements of a new hard disk that stores [...]

Traveling abroad with multiple gadgets

Back in the Dark Ages — which, for me, was in the early 1970s — staying in touch with family, friends, and business colleagues while traveling abroad was a relatively straightforward affair: it simply didn’t happen. It was possible to call people on the phone, but there were no discount phone services, so it was [...]

Whither IT – part 1

I’ve been asked to give a short (one-hour) presentation for an on-site gathering of IT managers in a couple weeks, about the “future of IT” over the next 5-10 years. It’s something I’ve spoken about at various conferences and meetings for the past 20+ years, but it’s always fun to take a fresh look — [...]

Rome presentation: “Strategic Planning for Enterprise 2.0″

I’m here in Rome this week, participating in a conference on “Enterprise 2.0” for Technology Transfer Institute. You should be there so you can hear the presentations from all of the speakers, as well as the comments and questions from the participants. But if you’re stuck in some other part of the world, or you couldn’t [...]

Enterprise 2.0, version 1.02

I’ve updated the seminar on “Enterprise 2.0” that I presented in Rome on May 4-5, 2009. You can download the 54.921-megabyte PDF file by clicking on the link above, or you can view/download it on my Slideshare page; a few of the slides (and updates) will seem rather cryptic and mysterious, but if you actually [...]