Latest predictions in the IT world suggest that in 2011 there will be more mobile phones and tablets than desktops, netbooks and laptops. There will be possibly a few hundred million more, and the numbers seem to be on the increase.I am still happy with my netbook and old fashioned mobile phone, but am looking around. In my previous post this meant that I have still have not found the killer application and device that will buy me to the innovation side yet.
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In the last couple of weeks I attended the mobile cloud computing forum, an interesting event where several experts put forward their views on what is to happen in 2011. They all coincided with the idea that we will make much more use of mobile devices, and that there will be a better infrastructure to allow for the circulation of data to and from those devices. We are now talking about the cloud as I have been also hinting in a previous post.
Telecommunication companies now enter into the picture of the cloud by offering intelligent data out of data that circulates through their pipes. With consumers moving around, that data becomes precious. Consumers can then be better understood by their locations, their mobility and the applications they use.
Not only consumers but companies themselves can move around, some of them can go directly to consumers instead of waiting for them to turn up at their shops or their online websites. New products and services can be designed and tailored to specific users in specific locations. All of these can, in principle, be enhanced by cloud computing infrastructures. Developers can count on users being able to access information from anywhere and at anytime. Managers can rely on infrastructures to protect their data. IT managers can have more time to support businesses and less time in the day-to-day of managing IT.
All of this seems to be suggesting a new state of affairs, where consumers will use mobile devices to access data, leaving also data through the communication pipes they use. It is an opportunity for telecommunication companies, software developers and other organizations to design products and services to make use of such data. We have heard about the mashing up of data (maps, facts, purchases, facilities) so as to offer an integrated view of a location and its consumers so they both can be seen for future use.
What is the requisite then for people to access to this new reality?
This is where it gets tricky, at least for me.
After the forum and in my last classes I have explored together with various people including my students the question of what it takes to be able to participate of all what seems to be on offer. Some of the people I talk to love the world of iphone® : videoing, geographical applications, augmented reality (for instance scanning things in a book shop to compare prices, or finding restaurant offers nearby), email, etc. The Android® people seem to be on the go to have this and more. Both of these groups though have to get into contracts for phone and internet service. These contracts are not cheap. They are lengthy, and/or you have to pay for the device (tablet, mobile phone).
Technology vendors and writers have changed their language. They do not talk anymore about contracts, they talk about ecosystems. The language and what it brings are definitely sticky. As an example, two of my students presented a business idea recently at University and were asked 'where in the eco-system (presumably of the cloud)' they saw their business operating. In the discussion that followed, we agreed that we needed a better business model so that the business could benefit from the ecosystem, not giving big eco-system species (Google® ,Microsoft®) the chance to wipe it out. It seems that in the eco-system there are (big) reigning species: telecommunication companies, Google®, Microsoft®, Apple®, IBM® and others. If you want to be part of it, you need to know your place, possibly work and collaborate with the big species, whilst providing more specific and valuable services. Who knows, maybe in the future your business can be bought by them.
Being in an eco-system could be particulary exciting for developers. They can develop applications for different platforms, devices, operational systems. They can also develop applications to use data obtained from devices or flowing to devices. Developers then need to work with other people. Perhaps they need to change the language they use. They need to know who are the customers and suppliers, in other words, they need to see themselves within a business. Tricky again, because you should not talk to many people about your idea (the pace of change is very fast and technologies are there to be exploited) but exciting.
For users like me, entering into this eco-system means paying for access, with the risk that it might not give what we all want: speed, relevant content, killer applications, or even security. Those of us who are extremely careful should perhaps pair with people who are better innovators and less afraid of the eco-system. My students seem to have a knack for trying new things and do not seem to be worried for the cost that this involves. So I pair up with them, by now they might be thinking that I ask a lot of obvious questions, and might be wondering if I have not bought yet a new mobile phone.
Not to worry, I will eventually do it, but before, let me say two things. First, I am the kind of individual that still thinks that a phone is and should be a phone. Second, I think that this eco-system should be more affordable, so that I can still pay for my phone and occasionally access all these eco-fantastic applications and services. To give you hope, and following advice from one of my students, I have found a £100 mobile phone that could get me into it: Android, email, internet browser and, of course mobile phone calls, at what seems to be an affordable pay-as-you go price (still using the language of contracts here).
I decided to defer my entry into the eco-system until after Christmas 2010. I am waiting to see if prices will come down a bit. And also, I am also waiting for Christmas presents, so you'd better hurry up and maybe you will get a Christmas card in return. Just joking.
Maybe 2011 will be the year of the eco-system, maybe?
Telecommunication companies now enter into the picture of the cloud by offering intelligent data out of data that circulates through their pipes. With consumers moving around, that data becomes precious. Consumers can then be better understood by their locations, their mobility and the applications they use.
Not only consumers but companies themselves can move around, some of them can go directly to consumers instead of waiting for them to turn up at their shops or their online websites. New products and services can be designed and tailored to specific users in specific locations. All of these can, in principle, be enhanced by cloud computing infrastructures. Developers can count on users being able to access information from anywhere and at anytime. Managers can rely on infrastructures to protect their data. IT managers can have more time to support businesses and less time in the day-to-day of managing IT.
All of this seems to be suggesting a new state of affairs, where consumers will use mobile devices to access data, leaving also data through the communication pipes they use. It is an opportunity for telecommunication companies, software developers and other organizations to design products and services to make use of such data. We have heard about the mashing up of data (maps, facts, purchases, facilities) so as to offer an integrated view of a location and its consumers so they both can be seen for future use.
What is the requisite then for people to access to this new reality?
This is where it gets tricky, at least for me.
After the forum and in my last classes I have explored together with various people including my students the question of what it takes to be able to participate of all what seems to be on offer. Some of the people I talk to love the world of iphone® : videoing, geographical applications, augmented reality (for instance scanning things in a book shop to compare prices, or finding restaurant offers nearby), email, etc. The Android® people seem to be on the go to have this and more. Both of these groups though have to get into contracts for phone and internet service. These contracts are not cheap. They are lengthy, and/or you have to pay for the device (tablet, mobile phone).
Technology vendors and writers have changed their language. They do not talk anymore about contracts, they talk about ecosystems. The language and what it brings are definitely sticky. As an example, two of my students presented a business idea recently at University and were asked 'where in the eco-system (presumably of the cloud)' they saw their business operating. In the discussion that followed, we agreed that we needed a better business model so that the business could benefit from the ecosystem, not giving big eco-system species (Google® ,Microsoft®) the chance to wipe it out. It seems that in the eco-system there are (big) reigning species: telecommunication companies, Google®, Microsoft®, Apple®, IBM® and others. If you want to be part of it, you need to know your place, possibly work and collaborate with the big species, whilst providing more specific and valuable services. Who knows, maybe in the future your business can be bought by them.
Being in an eco-system could be particulary exciting for developers. They can develop applications for different platforms, devices, operational systems. They can also develop applications to use data obtained from devices or flowing to devices. Developers then need to work with other people. Perhaps they need to change the language they use. They need to know who are the customers and suppliers, in other words, they need to see themselves within a business. Tricky again, because you should not talk to many people about your idea (the pace of change is very fast and technologies are there to be exploited) but exciting.
For users like me, entering into this eco-system means paying for access, with the risk that it might not give what we all want: speed, relevant content, killer applications, or even security. Those of us who are extremely careful should perhaps pair with people who are better innovators and less afraid of the eco-system. My students seem to have a knack for trying new things and do not seem to be worried for the cost that this involves. So I pair up with them, by now they might be thinking that I ask a lot of obvious questions, and might be wondering if I have not bought yet a new mobile phone.
Not to worry, I will eventually do it, but before, let me say two things. First, I am the kind of individual that still thinks that a phone is and should be a phone. Second, I think that this eco-system should be more affordable, so that I can still pay for my phone and occasionally access all these eco-fantastic applications and services. To give you hope, and following advice from one of my students, I have found a £100 mobile phone that could get me into it: Android, email, internet browser and, of course mobile phone calls, at what seems to be an affordable pay-as-you go price (still using the language of contracts here).
I decided to defer my entry into the eco-system until after Christmas 2010. I am waiting to see if prices will come down a bit. And also, I am also waiting for Christmas presents, so you'd better hurry up and maybe you will get a Christmas card in return. Just joking.
Maybe 2011 will be the year of the eco-system, maybe?
