As the blogging idol contest fades into the sunset (actually rain
here in Toronto) I thought I might try to peek into the future (not too
well as my glasses are foggy and rose-coloured), at least as far as IT
and Communications is concerned. Off-the-cuff personal opinions only,
please!
1. Our options for connecting and communicating
will only get more diverse - we’ll be able to pick and choose just how
we wish to contact others (one-on-one, small or large group, public or
private, broadcast or interactive or store-and-forward). We’ll also
need to be able to cross over from one mode to another - much like
unified communications allows voice to be stored as an email and text
messages to be played back as voice. I haven’t even tried to contact
old school friends on Facebook - I’m afraid of information overload
(that’s even happening just with Pedro’s posts :-). Ever try googling
yourself (yes, admit it!) - no doubt you are there somewhere.
2. Our options for collecting information will only get more diverse - Pedro (a
fellow blogging idoller) talks about scanning 4,000 or more blog items
a month, I must amass hundreds of white papers per month, and how many
people now rely on uTube - how many different ways can we access
information these days? We certainly need “automated assistants” to
help us sort, file and retrieve this mass of data. We also need a
“universal personal warehouse” for our data and perhaps even data
mining - I have no idea how I would keep track even of the blog posts
in this contest, much less .
3. Our options for disseminating information
will only get more diverse - it ranges from broadcasting our location
(allowing ourselves to be tracked) to small message like Tweets, to
emails, to Facebook posts, text messaging (or event sexting), to
personal blogs and web sites, to videos of ourselves (with or without
clothes :-)……and so on. Many many choices now, and no doubt more to
come in the near future - but also likely some changes and
consolidation - we may not recognize the landscape in 5 years.
4. Our options for processing information
will only get more diverse - this ranges from really intelligent
personal digital assistants to personal workflow systems, sophisticated
financial systems (what about automated tax returns that collect all
your T4s, track your deductibles, know the laws and interface directly
to CRA - no more April 30 madness), real personal scheduling systems,
and so on.
5. Our options for interfacing to systems
will only get more diverse - many of the Star Trek gadgets may come
true - certainly communicators have. How about the holodeck? Voice
input/output is pretty much here but has to await more unified
systems. 3D projection and television is coming, as are tabletop
displays, touchy-feely devices, smelly systems, and so on. And no
doubt there will be many types of iPhone, Pre, Netbook, etc. etc. Key
is that all of these have to be capable of working in standard ways so
as to reduce confusion and make life easier for all of us. Can you
imagine growing up in a world where every telephone was different and
every car had to be driven differently?
6. Our options for becoming more agile
will only get more diverse - at many levels - as users we need to
adapt to new devices and systems almost daily (2 months ago I had never
heard of Twitter - now I follow Britney Spears in her every move :-).
As developers, change is the name of the game, and the faster the
better. How the heck did they get signed off user requirements for
Twitter, anyway!!
Enough said……the future will be exciting. I’m sure some of these
topics will be subjects for next year’s Blogging Idollers to debate.
And in the meantime, I’m signing off for now since there’s only 2 hours
left in this year’s contest. Good luck to everyone, and we all won
again!