"I have seen the future, and it is here..."
Sometime in the past few years, our world changed. It was not a slow change, but it was somewhat subtle. Most of us did not realize how big of a change we were going through. I am talking about our world of personal technology. As I write this, my wife is sitting next to me doing on a word game on her Samsung Tab. After breakfast, she will probably read for a while on her Kindle Fire. I am using my Toshiba Satellite laptop to write this article. Once I am done with it, I will send to my modem, via my wireless router, for posting on my blog site. While I am writing it, my Samsung Android phone is being charged so when I go outside, I will be able to listen to i heart radio.
For most reading this, a big "so what?" might be in order. The technology our family uses is not that different from many other families. However, if we could go back in time just ten years with the technology we have now, many people we would meet would think we were aliens. Yes, things have changed that much in a decade.
Not too long ago, I read an article on how our current PC laptop compares with the Cray supercomputer from the 1980's. Bottom line, it doesn't. Again, we would need to go back in time to the 1980's. If you could find Seymour Cray and tell him in 2013 many people would own a computer which was light and portable AND could out perform his monster supercomputer, I doubt he would believe you. Yes, the supercomputer of yesterday has become the PC of today.
A few weeks ago I went into the local mobile phone store to "kick some tires". A young man came up to me and asked what I was looking for in a phone. He asked, "Do you use it for gaming, GPS, music, reading, camera, e-mail, computing, or what?" My response was "Yes to all of that, and sometimes I might like to make a phone call also." It gave me pause to think - this little device, smaller than a pack of smokes, can do just about everything (and more) a PC can do. Just about every place you go today, people are glued to their smart phones. The Blackberry phone, which not too long ago were almost ubiquitous, are now so yesterday. The old flip phone? Check with grandpa.
Where do we go from here? Cloud storage will allow our smart phones to become even smarter as ALL of our data will be assessable just about anyplace and anytime. Putting security concerns aside just for a minute, that is an awesome thought. Moore's Law will continue to be the guiding factor in how much faster our mobile devices will become. Apps will be the new protocol, replacing many old platforms and programs. Open sourcing will continue to drive software innovation by the experienced and inexperienced alike.
The next time you are using your laptop, tablet or smart phone, think about how far we have come. Think about how lost you would be if your current tools were replaced by the tools of ten years ago. Some would argue today we are way too wired - they might be right. As for me however, I am addicted to our new technology. Right or wrong, I am a techno addict.
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