When asked to write a blog entry, I thought long and hard about “stuff” and tried to come up with something deep, meaningful and full of wisdom. But eventually I decided that as we are approaching the end of the first decade of the “new millennium” that I should stare into  a  crystal ball and come up with some future insights of my own.

Most people seem to look upon 2009 as a year to forget, and speed away from as fast a possible, but really the past year has been a time of great change and invention, necessitated by the fact that everyone has had to think a lot harder this year to find new and innovative solutions to their problems. That said our challenges have by no means disappeared and hopefully this will continue our hunger to create and develop new ideas and technologies no matter how weird, wonderful or just plain strange they may appear at the time.

This brings me nicely onto a few technology advancements (or perhaps a wish list) for the future:

The Rise of Cloud Computing

Given the spiralling CAPEX and management costs associated with running the ever expanding number of software systems needed today the advantages of “cloud” computing can be very attractive especially in a recovering financial climate.  By using the ever increasing number of readily available, supported services, why go to the expense of setting up your own systems each time?  Exploit the “cloud” and use the knowledge, experience and creativity of other people’s hard work. Just look at some of the names involved in providing these types of services, Amazon, Microsoft, and BT to name a few.

New paradigms in computer Operating Systems

While explaining the architecture of our system to a client the other day I was asked how I saw things developing on mobile in the future.

Currently we have a platform that enables clients to mobilise their systems and data, either through a mobile browser or a Smartphone application. My reply to the question was the section of our system that deals with the browser/Smartphone interface would eventually become the same thing as these technologies coalesce.

It seems to make sense to me that computer applications will merge with browser apps, where the browser will become an application framework rich enough to do everything any current application framework is capable of. In fact this is already starting to become reality, just take a look at Google’s Chrome O/S (currently the Chromium OS project). A video overview can be found here .

Probably first to be seen mainstream on notebooks and laptops I think that this change will eventually migrate onto the mobile platform as well, so we will see no difference between a Smartphone application or a mobile browser application.

Increased use and availabliity of mobile services

Everyone seems to say this every year, but the future CAN only get brighter for mobile technology not just for the “tech geeks” out there but for people all over the world.

Large Continents like Africa still have relatively poor broadband infrastructures, whereas the mobile networks are expanding in service quality and coverage, and there are MILLIONS of consumers in these countries with mobile phones eager to use them. Not only is this good for companies that provide mobile related services, but in turn it is good for the people using these services as it drives down the costs of ownership and use.

These 3 subjects  complement each other well and will serve to service the consumer and provide them with what they need, not just with what technology businesses think they want. It will become more and more important, as these technologies expand and grow, to be able to listen and provide consumers with services and applications they need and will use in everyday life rather that flooding  an already bloated market with “apps” that satisfy just the initial want.

Am I right? Am I wrong?  Well to be honest does it really matter?  The thing is not to be able to predict everything correctly (how boring would that be?), but more to have belief in innovation and to stimulate ideas in others,  I bet that you have at least one good idea that no one else has ever thought of.

So to end I wish you all a Merry Christmas and leave you with the reason that our house does not have a Christmas tree up for more than 4 hours.

Steve Rogers Dec 2009

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future”. – John F Kennedy