Whats the big problem – technology or human interaction with technology?
Every now and again the IT industry seems to hit a lull where nothing much exciting seems to be happening. I think we’re in such a lull right now. Many consider our present range of devices positioned well for the future, with form factor and performance that will see us through the coming decade. I don’t agree. I think what we have is rapidly becoming boring. For sure, it is magical in its performance and abilities but nothing much fundamental has changed for the last five years. Yes, our devices have become smaller and displays are bigger, and interfaces have become a little friendlier but the reality is that the PC, PDA, mobile phone and laptop are pretty much the same devices as those we had five years ago. The question is: for how long will this continue? In the past year I have seen chip technologies that will reduce power consumption ~10-fold and new system design techniques that will give further reductions by a factor ~x6. There are also new antenna technologies that are ~x4 m
