URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/51062
To understand where technology is today and find out where it's going in the future, we have to first listen to Barbra Streisand and look at "the way we were." Flash back to 1977: Fax machines and land-line phones were the cutting edge of business hardware. The Apple II computer was introduced the month before the launch of this magazine. With 64K of memory and a 1 MHz processor, it heralded the beginning of the PC era. Kay Kienast, Internet veteran and vice president of marketing with advanced networking start-up Solid Technologies, remembers it well: "People thought 'This will never last.'"
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The road from the Apple II to today's Internet-cruising, flat-screen 2 GHz business PC is paved with innovations and milestones. In 1981, with Apple and Tandy ruling the market, IBM released the 5150 PC, which sported a 4.77 MHz Intel processor. Mike Ravagnani, director of technology consulting firm Revolution Software in Worthington, Ohio, says, "The first IBM PC really made businesses sit up and listen. Before that, it was all kids' toys and research." Then came Microsoft, and the revolution was really moving.
Add the Web to this recipe in 1990. Shake well for 12 years, and look at the ways technology has changed what it means and what it takes to be an entrepreneur. The idea of launching a competitive virtual global business from a spare bedroom would have sounded like an H.G. Wells story 25 years ago. But it's possible today.
Wireless technology started a hundred years ago when Guglielmo Marconi transmitted a signal across the Atlantic. We've made a few advances since then. Experts point to wireless as one of the biggest tech stories for the next 25 years, and the onward march of technology is unsentimental. We'll watch pagers fall like floppy disks by the wayside, as mobile phones rule and wireless LANs become some of the hottest hardware around.
Add wired technology to the endangered list, and expect all devices to be completely wireless down the line. The Handspring Treo mobile phone/PDA combination is a prototype for wireless devices in the future: small, capable and multifunctional. But security issues will continue to haunt wireless and other technologies. On the positive side, Ravagnani notes that biometrics and security research are shaping up as high-growth areas for entrepreneurs.
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The Fate of PCs & ASPs
What about the fate of our desktop companion, the PC? What goes around, comes around. "We started out with a completely centralized hosting model in the mainframe," says Ravagnani. "Essentially, over the past 25 years, we've been getting back to that model." The "computer as an island" concept is disappearing with the growth of fast and easy wireless networking. Ravagnani anticipates interchangeable generic hardware devices will be used to access data and applications from a central source. Employees will just grab a device from the pool.
The way Kienast sees things, many businesses won't even need an office. If you think you and your mobile phone are inseparable now, wait until you're videoconferencing from the comfort of your completely wireless office in your networked home. For service businesses, employees could be based anywhere and still be seamlessly connected to you and each other. The need for business travel will decline dramatically.
We all know it's high time to put more emphasis on the "user" part of "user interface." Your keyboard and mouse will be replaced by much more natural and comfortable audio and visual interactions. Move your eyes, and sensors will track where you're looking and follow along, for example. Today's speech-recognition software only hints at the possibilities. Look at projects like IBM's BlueEyes for the latest advancements in redefined user interfaces.
They may not be as glamorous as jet packs or microchip-embedded clothing, but ASPs are the true wave of the future. Everything from customer relationship management software to accounting and data storage will move to the Net. "In the future, small companies will have access to everything they need [from] service providers," Kienast says.
Looking ahead, one intriguing technology possibility is too tempting to not mention. Wearable PCs are already here if you don't mind looking like a Borg. But companies like Xybernaut have grander plans, including smaller designs, lower costs and access to fully functional PC software. Given enough development time, they'll be a practical portable alternative.
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The Future Is in Your Hands
We can talk about the future of technology until we're blue in the monitor, but actually doing something about it is even more important. "The best thing small businesses can do now is leverage the hosted technologies that they're starting to see," Ravagnani advises. "It gets them ready to take advantage of the global network we're going to have in the future because they'll already have their data centrally located."
You don't have to wait around for cutting-edge technology to develop. Hooking up with service providers and implementing wireless technologies are two things you can do today. Streamline your business and reduce your ownership costs while preparing for the next wave of innovation. We guarantee business technology 25 years from now will look as different as a Palm VII would have in 1977. But don't worry. As Kienast says, "We're all going to like it."
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Contact Sources
- Revolution Software
(614) 899-1800, http://www.revolutionsoftware.com - Solid Technologies
(650) 210-9100, http://www.solidtech.com