Saturday, September 10, 2011

cloud to surface

We always have been craving for this, we always wanted compact computing devices. We have them now, the all powerful, light weight, low power consuming, multitasking, connected devices. They are all converging into smartphone-tablet form factors. I still believe the tablet market has yet to find the ultimate tablet form factor; in spite of some of the greatest product design brains and billions of dollars of investment, we still don't have a compelling tablet form factor. We have a tablet market leader, who is way ahead of the competition; its still not the best tablet form factor. We ultimately will get there, if not today, tomorrow - we will have the right tablet form factor.


Unfortunately though, that form factor will not be the next big thing in the gadget world. Tablets will clearly eclipse PC share in next 5 years. PC is a history for non-programming world. The next big thing in the gadget world however, is what I call cloud-to-surface. i.e. We won't carry gadgets in our pockets 10 years from now. We won't need gadgets. I see all the surfaces, tables, walls, car dashboards, doors becoming gadgets. We will no longer carry data with us on tablets or smart-phones etc; the data will follow us where we go, including phone calls. Computer will no longer be on top of my desk; my desk will be my computer and so will be my car, and my coffee table, mirror, and the table in my favorite coffee shop or restaurant, and the seat on the train or bus or bus stop. When I put my hand on the surface, becomes my gadget, with my data; when you have it, its yours; and it doesn't leave anything behind. When its with no one, its a dead rock.


The peak of cloud computing is not my data available to me on my own gadgets; the peak is that my data available to me where I am; and when I am not there, its in the cloud. What would it take to get there? LTE + cloud + something like Microsoft surface. We almost have all three of them, they just need to meet each other and huddle.

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