I was driving into work this morning and I started to think about how the evolution of technology has culminated into IT being focused about the delivery of services, and not just the technology that drives it. I think it’s a fantastic change since it means IT Service Management (which I happily embrace) is more in the spotlight and has gained a lot of popularity these past few years. The change is easy to explain. With cloud computing and mobile devices (such as the iPad, which I’m using to write this blog post) people don’t have to focus solely on technology to deliver value. In fact, IT is now more focused than ever on delivering positive experiences through easy, and natural, interfaces with technology. Best example is the empire built by the late Steve Jobs. Apple products are not always the most technologically powerful, but they focus on the user experience. I don’t think I need to remind anyone on the success of Apple, so for the sake of moving along with this blog post…let’s just go with it.
And what came before the user experience? That’s right; cloud computing. Maybe it didn’t come necessarily before it, but the concept of the cloud has helped create a seamless integration of data between different platforms and environments. A cool user interface is one thing, but the cloud makes technology a cool life interface.
So, what came before “the cloud?” I would say mobile technology. Especially these past couple of years, SoC’s have gotten smaller, more powerful, and more efficient. My iPad is proof of it. I have access to a computing device that I use to watch movies (duh), play games (duh again), write blog posts and (sometimes) do work – all on a 10 hour battery. It amazes me that computer chip manufacturers have changed their focus to size and power, making each of those factors as small as possible while still manufacturing their silicon chips to be even more powerful than the previous generation. In fact, it seemed almost like yesterday that all they cared about was processor speed.
Now I remember how I started thinking about mobile technology: How great was it when the only thing that mattered with CPU’s was the speed? I was thinking about how Intel and AMD were the 800 pound gorillas in the technology jungle. I don’t mean to downplay any advances in other technical areas, such as storage or RAM, but in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, I woke every day in anticipation of hearing the latest and greatest news of CPU breakthroughs. During this time AMD was squarely beating Intel in the processor race, where a higher gigahertz was all that mattered. Of course, Intel was able to stage a comeback and their Core 2 offering proved that an efficient architecture made a stronger difference than the sheer amount of electricity that silicon can process. Moving past the great processor war, CPU’s got miniaturized and were able to fit into smaller and smaller frames. Blackberry, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Android; none would have really gained power in processing without a few select chip manufactures being forced into the mobile market space. Which ironically, is now more important than what Intel and AMD are bringing to the desktop platforms.
Now, what was I thinking about before my memory of the great Intel vs. AMD war? That’s right, Nirvana’s Smells like Teen Spirit came on the radio, which got me thinking about the 90’s and how technology has change since that time…
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