Everything is Mobile

I know I've said this before, but I really want to re-iterate it.

Just this year, computers and the way they are used (by the general population) is very close to what I WANTED them to be 30 years ago.

I remember walking into a radio shack with my dad in 1978. I was drawn to the blinking cursor of a TRS-80. I asked dad, what can this do?

"Just about anything you want it to" he says.

Really? I say.
I type... "What is the temperature on Mars?" [RETURN]

It replied...

PROGRAM NOT FOUND

I wasn't impressed and so began my quest of making computers do what I wanted them to do.

Today I carry around a Samsung Focus Windows Phone as well as an iPhone (beacuse I cannot play audible content on my Windows Phone (come on Amazon.... Really? you suck...)

So I am still stuck with the "Program Not Found" Dilemna.

With the millions and millions of apps available, there are still billions and billions of uses that go unfulfilled.

What is the date today? Oh yeah, the day before the year 2012 starts.
Where is my HAL-9000? My phone is almost as good as a Star Trek Communicator, but I have no ship to talk to. When will this ubiquitous era of computing actually be more fulfilling than frustrating?

Soon, I Believe.

Why do I believe this?

Because the general population is finally carrying around something immensely useful that they depend on every day. Demand for usefulness will finally outweigh the geekiness computing devices have been relegated to for about 75 years. My mother is completely dependent on a computer, my 2 year old kids know how to and enjoy using one.

I really look forward to this global shift to mobile that will drive the next 10 years of computing the way the Internet drove the last 10.

As an Architect, I have re-thought how I even start to think about developing applications radically over the last few years. Today the thought of mobile and cloud are first rather than how to shoehorn a legacy app into this new world. This trend will continue to emerge in force in 2012 and massively exciting times are right around the corner.

For those who think it will be ruled by Apple and Google, you may be right, but in all actuality, Microsoft who still owns 80+% of the business market has barely even started their major mobile push, that happens this year with ARM and Windows 8. If you think this will be a fizzle then you will most likely be among those who said they would not have a major impact on the Internet in the mid 1990s.

I am very excited about the next few years in computing and have made my mind shift into mobile full force, have you?