While I’m rethinking my career choice (more on that later if it looks like I’m going through with it), I thought I would write about personal computing and my views on how it will look like in around a decade (possibly less).
I actually got the basic idea from the analyst company Gartner. I have just formed my own views and opinions of their prediction(s) on how IT will evolve. I’m trying to write rather simplisticly here, so my non-tech savvy readers can understand what I’m after. I probably have NOT thought everything completely through, so there might be some obvious mistakes and flaws here. It’s just a quick look into what IT might be in the future and should not be taken too seriously.
In the future, I think we won’t have personal computers anymore. I think what we will have is different access points to our virtual computer, which might be a service offered by let’s say the current internet service providers. It could also be offered by new companies or perhaps the big players like Google or Microsoft. An access point/device could be a
- Mobile phone
- Tablet
- Workstation/PC
- Laptop
The user interface would have to be tailored to each device. It probably could be scalable so the interface stays consistent between devices. I think it is probable that we would have many different “operating systems” running in the cloud. Competitors is what I mean.
Some performance is required on the user side, which would mean that the access point needs to have atleast some hardware. I think the PC could be swapped to sort of an iMac type of device, where the required hardware is hidden inside the screen, so no need for a separate computer case (space saving!). The performance could be around the same or less of what computers have nowadays. Even low-power PCs could be enough. All this leads to one less thing of the user to worry about. Basically, every application and game should run well regardless of the hardware on the user end, because the real work is done in the cloud.
How this would work is that you would connect to your virtual computer and all your files would be there no matter which device you use to connect. Response time would be quick, since everything is ready on the server. You could purchase apps and games with a single click and they would be ready instantly to use on any device.
Well, the critical issue here is obviously the privacy and security. How could you trust all your data and files into the hands of some company, which might even be located in another country! I think that’s the major drawback to the whole idea. The security would need to be very tight, because a single leak could undermine the basis for the whole system. I think there would have to be several stages of authentication and maybe the devices allowed to connect to the virtual computer would have to be defined and authorized.
I think that about sums up my ideas, but I might edit in more later.
