Communication is a good thing

Communication is a good thing. Tools for communication have driven technological innovation and scientific advances for nearly a century.

First telephone and television to today with video conferencing and three dimensional multi party telepresence interaction. We are driven to interact, to connect, to talk.

Hardware vendors now have made readily available very sophisticated camera/ microphone array devises built for the masses at about a hundred dollars a pop. Telepresence is a reality on even the most common modern computer. People now…”Skype it up”.

Engagement in social media has become a global activity. From the earliest reports of world events to what my cat did this morning every minute of every day throughout the world somebody is tweeting about it, sharing it on Face-book, and creating collage with the elements on So.cl.

Soon many distantly located small to large companies and organizations will be able to attend many meetings and directly collaborate in real time through the intelligent use of these forms of communication technologies.

The Device

The idea of a device that can act as a ‘personal assistant’ is now close at hand. Our smartphones, laptops, and tablets are every bit as capable and powerful as the full desktop console of ten years ago.

Imagine a handheld device seamlessly connected with every other machine at the home and the office. Then imagine the device also connected with massive private and public databases accessing every keystroke and website record created from your entire Internet experience.

Such a device can and will enable you to be more productive at work and more capable at home. With the current reality of nearly infinite compute and storage this humble genius that is always at your disposal is just around the corner and will become reality very soon.

 This assistant will ‘know’ you, your preferences, your wants, your needs, and desires and will make recommendations and, as well, will be able to coach the individual in every important aspect of life.

The ‘device’ will always be on and connected and will becomes as common as todays’ smartphones’.

Natural language recognition combined with other methods will created wholly novel and profoundly different systems of user interface.

Insight gained through the access to ‘big data” will enable students to consider career choices that may not be ones that they themselves are thinking of.

 Doctors will be able to diagnose conditions and recommend treatments that consider the totality of a person’s health record…as well as a patient’s personal profile compiled from this massive individualized database.

Emergency workers will benefit greatly from access to such information when considering the best and safest course of action…safest for themselves and the people that they serve.

Companies and department store will be able to custom tailor their offerings to the individual consumer.

The Device is coming…  I’m going to name mine Cari.

Bill Gates this summer stated that we are, ‘… just now entering the golden era of computer science’.

Software is just now beginning to show use what nearly unlimited compute can do. The types of modelling that will be required in order to get a handle on global scale issues will require even more.

We are most nearly there now on the hardware side. Amdahl’s law is currently in action making the returns in hardware development less than the last advancements. The remarkable advances in software will continue.

 We need it to. Global scale issues are now on the agenda…and large scale, distributed cluster, parallel systems will be a primary tool in helping to solve these issues. Climate modeling, global disease transmission vectors, and stochastic simulations are in their entirety to vast for any other method of resolution.

The era of the pocket genius…or intelligent assistant made possible through the newest console whatever the form factor, smart-phone, tablet, and laptop, desktop, all connected and a now with proudly novel, continuous, interface is close at hand.

 Getting answers is just the beginning. Imagine a device that prompts you to ask the right questions. Or, that monitors your breathing and skin temps…and asks you when the last time you ate…or even, a carton of milk that ‘knows’ when it is nearly empty…and adds it to the weekly shopping list. All these and more will occur in the foreseeable future.

In the bigger picture, on the global scale technology can and will help benefit the lives billions of people.

Let’s start getting ready…the future is bright ahead.

The Internet of everything is not about machines. Nor is it about devices. The Internet of everything will be about regular people who have a global reach. And not just symbolically.

As our compute powers increase with the newest hardware...and as this hardware grows increasingly smaller combined with an ever present Internet people will naturally extend their networks ever farther across the globe.

Social networks already allow an almost instant national presence. We all have Facebook friends from past and present all across the place as we watch the Twitter feed to give us a feeling for the mood of the hour on a national level. Multi player gaming already connects their participants from 'the four winds' and in real-time.

These are the first steps of an even bigger phenomena and offers an exciting expansion of the everyday experience of millions around the globe.

The Digital Explosion

It is without doubt a world becoming digital. As of June, 2012, more than 2.4 billion people are Internet users. In a recent survey nearly half of American adults and nearly two-thirds of young adults reported that they owned a smart phone.It is estimated that soon there will be more than 3.9 billion mobile subscribers globally.

Not only are our personal devices digital...so too are many of our every-day items from the appliances in our kitchens to our automobiles. Today and from here forward, people, machines, proccesses, data, and more are connected in ways that were not envisioned only twenty years ago.

This is the Internet of Everything and it is creating a data explosion. The means and methods of human/computer interaction are rapidly changing and evolving. The opportunity and challange then is how to actively make use of and derive ongoing value from this expansive digital world.

Central here is the digital experience. Central here is how to give your customers, patients, citizens, partners, and employees an exceptiional digital experience.

After all your code may be clean and your designs lovely, but the digital world is all about people and thier wants, needs, and desires. The people who are ready and willing to transmit and recieve information and experiences anywhere, at any time, and on any device. The people who are ready, willing, and able to engage and be engaged by your digital creations. It is people then that must be the center of every approach.

Look anywhere you wish from the malls to the highways at home or at the office; we are wired. (even when the 'wires' are wireless radio signals) Imagine now, every device seamlessly and discretely exchanging data to every other device, in all places and at each moment, everywhere.

The world has becoming digital. There is no going back. Soon we will all be able to experience first-hand the world of Big Data and the evolution that is fast upon us. This then is :The Internet of Everything.

Desk-top Infrastructure

The environment at the console is as an important planning parameter as any. This is where you get
 work done. This is where your system will be made real. All other considerations are really back-end
 issues. Your customer and staff for the most part need never see or think about them. Your desktop
 consoles will need proper configuration and regular management to keep your environment up to
 the minute and secure. Staff will need training and on going assesment. Will your client require an interface to the system and of what form ?
Paramount to other factors user experience needs to be one of reliabilty and ease of use. Staff and
 client alike have the need for a consistant experience across devices and platforms. This consistancy is achievable through a well planned and implemented IT Infrastructure.

The Future of Compute-DreamTime and The End of Counting

As we reach the conclusion of Moore's law and our mechanical abilities to physically shrink the electronic aspects of our consoles, we are approaching a quandary. The advances of miniaturizing CPU's and their associated chip-sets are now at an inflection point.

The technologies that have allowed manufacturers to produce 22nm processors and their connected hardware arrangements have now most nearly reached their limits. We have done it. There is not a lot more work to be done here.The point of diminishing returns is now immediately on the horizon. The remarkable advances that we have here-to-for accomplished are at present nearing our present abilities to go much further.

What a short, strange trip it has been. From the IBM mainframes of the 1960's to the ubiquity of cell-phones, lap-tops, RFID's, and the host of other incredible devices we have made mind blowing advances and all in a relatively short fifty years.

The next fifty years will not be one of shrinking hardware. We are already there for the most part. The next fifty years will require a host of new models in both soft wares and the nature of human/machine interaction.

Although the console and input methods used today will be around in present forms for a considerable time to come...we are already experimenting with alternative forms of input and interaction. Natural user interface, touch, voice and facial recognition are each and all on the market and seeing ready adoption.

Imagine a "machine" that could carry on a basic conversation...not one of instructions and then compute actions that produce a given result...but rather a passing the time real conversation.

Imagine a compute environment that is everywhere. In your watch...your television, your car, your office, your home, and in all public places...tracking and monitoring your every breath...your every stride...keeping and monitoring a veritable life-log. "John...I see your body temperature and breathing rate indicate that you are now having a low blood-suger event...will you eat something... please..?.you will find your functioning improve within a half an hour." "Jane, today's forecast is rather pleasant...your blue summer skirt would look smart with your favorite earrings and that pinkish belt that you bought last week...and I see that Jill is wearing the same shoes you have for today...maybe you would wish to wear the other pair..?"

These notions are not the least bit far-fetched.

As we advance, brain research and neurological science will be a real boon to the software and processing environments. It is a fact that that the human can and will recognise and understand a clock-face faster than a string of numbers. To the brain a symbol is more effective than a literal representation.The end of counting may be the beginning of the future.

Much of today's bog was inspired by a paper, 'Disruptive Possibilities' by Jeffery Needham

From Systems of Record to Systems of Engagement-Changing Models for Business Success

Until quite recent the basic model of Internet Technologies for business applications has been one of data acquisition and storage. Through volumes of data compiled regarding business functions, personnel, supply line, production metrics and so forth all have been one of past records held and accessable to analysis. We have been able to track what was...what has been. This has been accomplished through systems of record.

Today with the rise of social media and the ubiquity of a broad range of mobile devices the data now is coming in...in real time (or most nearly so) and customers want and expect direct engagement with whomever, where-ever. We want it all...and we want it now.

Companies have been struggling to keep up. The old models of customer behavior are now rapidly changing. Companies must keep up or go the way of the dinosaur. The new model is one of engagement. Companies must maintain thier legacy systems of record, but, must move to systems of engagement.

A product that did not meet the muster in the past had months before the verdict came down. Not so today...if your product or service fails to satisfy even a single customer...it is guarenteed that many, many people will hear of this through social media channels. Through links, likes, and tweets a product or service that fails to please will be known globally, and all from the relative comfort of the customers living room.

This new model of customer engagement is here to stay and any company that fails to take advantage of social media streams is missing out on opportunities. These are opportunities to understand product quality, opportunities at learning about customer satisfaction, and opportunities with regard to research and developement. These are metrics that all companies care about. They each and all effect 'the bottom line' .
So from here is your organisation prepared, can and do your decision makers understasnd the value and use of this new model.? We can help contact us https://3steveco33-public.sharepoint.com/ . Our team of designers and developers are here to make your transition from the old world to the new world seamless, discrete and smooth. You are our reason for being. Call us, we are here for you and our most important project is the one we are on now...Yours.

...and I do mean everything

Living at the intersection of hardware, software, and design...it is about people. With billions of interconnected device discreetly sharing data...Big Data...It is about people.
There is a new generation entering the workforce that has grown up always connected. They enter the workforce approaching technology with new attitudes and expectations. They demand access to anyone, anywhere on any device. The consumerization of technology is the consumerization of enterprise. At work they expect the same intuitive experience they have in the rest of their lives.  It is not about technology it is about people and an entire generation that is comfortable with this scenario.
 Data is growing at an exponential rate: the amount of data that exists is ten times the amount that it was just five years ago. For the first time this generation has grown up always on and always connected. At the heart are the people who make things happen. People...impassioned and empowered individuals. These are any organizations greatest asset.