Ah, what a week off can do for the mind and body. While the beautiful Boston weather provided me an overwhelming amount of rain, I was able to get a couple of (very bad) rounds of golf in, as well as just catch up on a number of chores around the house. That, combined with the fact that I did not have to get up at the crack of dawn every day, was a very welcome concept. Now mind you, coming back to ~500 emails was less than pleasant, but it was certainly worth it.
So as I was getting my day going today, I stumbled upon this article on the BBC web site that struck a chord for me.
The article is about a 13 year old boy in Aberdeenshire, England who traded in his iPod (with his father) for said father's Walkman...you know, when we had these things called TAPES. It's a really interesting article that made me start to think about how this could relate to enterprise mobility.
Anyone who reads this blog, or has seen my research, or seen me speak, knows that one of my big themes is the whole notion of how history repeats itself and that the "smartest" people out there will be able to leverage the lessons of yesterday to capitalize on the newest market opportunities. I maintain that this holds true in terms of the whole concept of enterprise mobility management. I don't think we'll be surprised (in hindsight) about how mobility management is so similar to traditional IT management. But in the context of the BBC article, I digress.
In fact, as opposed to pontificating or getting on MY soap box, I want to hear from you all. What do YOU think we'll see in the future for (enterprise) mobility that will make us say in 3, 5, 10 (never mind 30) years....how the heck did we ever live without this???
Let me however throw out a couple of ideas:
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I think that social networking is an interesting, albeit passing fad. I think the greater value comes from the instant communication we can have via such tools such as Twitter. Take that to the N-th degree with mobility. Communications will happen all the time...in any place. Now, while this can very potentially erode the sanctity of "personal time," I think America is well past the work/life balance. Imagine though, what this can do for the enterprise. Mobile UC - real time constant contact. Business can move to light speed (again, not sure if that's necessarily a good thing, but I digress). The value will come in innovative solution providers who can leverage that concept with compelling offerings and business models.
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The second thing - it's a little Captain Obvious, but hear me out - is that im-mobile connectivity will eventually go away. Mobile devices are going to be reaching 1Ghz this year. Mobile browsers are getting to the point that they are as good as desktop browsers. Mobile connectivity (with LTE) is getting to full broadband speeds. We have GPS, WiFi, cameras, compasses (if you care about that), App Stores, full Internet access. What can't we do on a mobile? Heck, Apple just banned adult content on the iPhone....isn't that some sort of milestone unto its own??? But back to the prior question...what can't we do with our mobiles. Throw in mobile payments/commerce/banking and I am not quite sure what's left for the individual.
So that's what I think. I think mobility - never mind enterprise mobility - is on the verge of a true explosion. I know that I don't know what the future holds in 10 years...never mind in 30. I do know however, that by that point, we will look at our current devices, or even the Ericsson i888 I originally had, much in the same way Scott Campbell looked at the cassette tape and his father's Walkman.
What do you think the future holds? What can we learn from the past? Share the love with your comments.
PS: Red Sox just beat the Orioles and Papelbon has tied the Red Sox record (with Bob Stanley) for saves!
