Future Vision
Successful information technology requires vision and strategy. People sometimes ask me why I work exclusively with Microsoft products, when there are free alternatives available. There are many reasons, and one big one is because Microsoft has the vision and strategy that others lack. When I use technology, I want to use products from a company that knows where it’s headed, 1, 5, 10 years from now.
Which brings me nicely to the Future Vision series produced by Microsoft Office Labs. These videos set out a vision of the future, envisioning how computing might be ten years from now in 2019. They are deliberately far fetched, but they are inspiring and in the few months they’ve been available, some of the pieces have already come onto the market. For example, I’ve seen a demonstration of a video projector the size of a cell phone and a plastic, transparent flat screen display. The more I watch these videos, the more realistic they become. So take a glimpse of what business computing might be like ten years from now (click on the image to view the video).
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| Productivity | Healthcare | Manufacturing |
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| Banking | Retail | Future Vision Montage |
So, in a few days we start a new decade. Could this be how we end it? I’m going to stick my neck out and make some predictions: I believe that 2010 will see the death of the magnetic moving-head hard drive, the death of the Mouse as the primary input tool and the emergence of ultra-thin, flexible, lightweight displays. Let’s see if any of my predictions come true. Happy New Year!