More thoughts on future computing
In keeping with my promise to provide more content for the blog I am going to have a little rant about future computing. This is something I have briefly mentioned before when looking at the various multi touch products that had been announced, such as Microsoft's Surface.
This time I want to talk about some ideas inspired by watching Steve Jobs and Bill Gates being interviewed together at D5.
I was particularly interested in some of the comments they made about "revolutionising" operating system interfaces and how that is a very complicated process as the user base does not like to drastically change how it interacts with a system that it has had decades to get to grips with. Bill Gates even cites something that has annoyed me: the "ribbon" in the new version of office. He points out that this major change in the UI is an annoyance to most people as it requires user to relearn a system they are already proficient with.
Gates makes it very clear that the major jump in OS design will come from 3D. There are several 3D OS ideas floating around but other than the stupid Windows Flip effect in Vista we have not yet seen 3D design hit the mainstream operating systems.
Jobs goes on to say that the innovation in user interaction with systems is focused on what he calls "post pc" devices, such as the iPod, iPhone and the Windows Mobile platform. These devices allow the industry to introduce new control methods which can then be transfered onto other platforms, such as multi-touch.
This was a tactic clearly adopted by Nintendo who released the DS as a way of getting users used to the idea of physical interaction with video games through the use of a stylus. This allowed users to adopt the 3D positioning system of the Wii without being baffled by the concept.
Both Jobs and Gates agree that these "post PC" devices are the future of the computer industry, the basic design of the home or office PC does not need to change as it fulfills the functions for which it was designed, the true innovation will come from the increasing variety of devices which can be used to connect to the home network. Effectively your entire house will be your "hub" computer and everything else will be an interface to the local network and internet designed to fulfill a few specific functions in the most user friendly way.
Gates even mentions that every available flat service in your home could potentially be a screen allowing digital interaction at the level required to fulfill the any given function of a home PC.
This use of powerful local interfaces allowing the remote data to be utilised is nicely illustrated by the Google Maps app on the iPhone. Apple have developed an interface perfectly suited to both the size and control system of the iPhone which has been polished with the usual Apple style. Using the Google Maps API has allowed Apple to produce an interface far prettier and more intuitive than the basic one offered through your browser on a PC.
Which brings me on to my final point: the use of the internet in modern computing devices.
In recent times the internet has become a default. Pretty much all applications utilise an internet connection in someway. It has become almost as standard as the electricity we use to power the devices that connect to it.
The way to deliver the endless torrents of data the net can provide is through an API, something the industry has adopted readily and is very apparent in many of the new web apps such as Twitter, Facebook, Seesmic, YouTube, etc. All of these services offer an API which is simple enough for professional and even consumer level developers to create there own way of displaying the data these services provide outside the confines of your browser. This also allows devices to connect to and display data in a way perfectly suited to the device form factor and control interface.
The internet map according to http://www.opte.org/
The data powerhouse that we call Google has allowed developers no end of freedom by creating simple to use APIs for many of the services they offer. This makes them very powerful indeed when compared to other companies that provide a similar service but lack the API support that to allows software companies to access this data in the new ways required by the rapidly changing world of modern devices.
This change in the way both consumers and software developers are using the internet means that connection to this world wide network is no longer a tangible experience. As these devices develop interaction with the net will become a given. The iPhone already combines many offline and online functions in an interface that does not make any differentiation between the two. Long gone are the days of watching "connecting" messages and listening to modems hiss and beep.
In conclusion: the future of computing is murky at best. The ever changing landscape of the internet leads to minor revolution in how we use our computers on a fairly regular basis. The major changes will be in how we access this resource, from the devices in our pockets to the IP TV in our living room. The internet is now an essential factor in the design of all new PC and "post PC" devices. I think we will be seeing many interesting "specific function" devices which will change how we interact with the data around us, but essentially I wouldn't want to see my beloved desktop change too much. I mean, you need a keyboard and mouse for COD4, right?
This time I want to talk about some ideas inspired by watching Steve Jobs and Bill Gates being interviewed together at D5.
I was particularly interested in some of the comments they made about "revolutionising" operating system interfaces and how that is a very complicated process as the user base does not like to drastically change how it interacts with a system that it has had decades to get to grips with. Bill Gates even cites something that has annoyed me: the "ribbon" in the new version of office. He points out that this major change in the UI is an annoyance to most people as it requires user to relearn a system they are already proficient with.
Gates makes it very clear that the major jump in OS design will come from 3D. There are several 3D OS ideas floating around but other than the stupid Windows Flip effect in Vista we have not yet seen 3D design hit the mainstream operating systems.
Jobs goes on to say that the innovation in user interaction with systems is focused on what he calls "post pc" devices, such as the iPod, iPhone and the Windows Mobile platform. These devices allow the industry to introduce new control methods which can then be transfered onto other platforms, such as multi-touch.
This was a tactic clearly adopted by Nintendo who released the DS as a way of getting users used to the idea of physical interaction with video games through the use of a stylus. This allowed users to adopt the 3D positioning system of the Wii without being baffled by the concept.
Both Jobs and Gates agree that these "post PC" devices are the future of the computer industry, the basic design of the home or office PC does not need to change as it fulfills the functions for which it was designed, the true innovation will come from the increasing variety of devices which can be used to connect to the home network. Effectively your entire house will be your "hub" computer and everything else will be an interface to the local network and internet designed to fulfill a few specific functions in the most user friendly way.
Gates even mentions that every available flat service in your home could potentially be a screen allowing digital interaction at the level required to fulfill the any given function of a home PC.
This use of powerful local interfaces allowing the remote data to be utilised is nicely illustrated by the Google Maps app on the iPhone. Apple have developed an interface perfectly suited to both the size and control system of the iPhone which has been polished with the usual Apple style. Using the Google Maps API has allowed Apple to produce an interface far prettier and more intuitive than the basic one offered through your browser on a PC.
Which brings me on to my final point: the use of the internet in modern computing devices.
In recent times the internet has become a default. Pretty much all applications utilise an internet connection in someway. It has become almost as standard as the electricity we use to power the devices that connect to it.
The way to deliver the endless torrents of data the net can provide is through an API, something the industry has adopted readily and is very apparent in many of the new web apps such as Twitter, Facebook, Seesmic, YouTube, etc. All of these services offer an API which is simple enough for professional and even consumer level developers to create there own way of displaying the data these services provide outside the confines of your browser. This also allows devices to connect to and display data in a way perfectly suited to the device form factor and control interface.
The internet map according to http://www.opte.org/
The data powerhouse that we call Google has allowed developers no end of freedom by creating simple to use APIs for many of the services they offer. This makes them very powerful indeed when compared to other companies that provide a similar service but lack the API support that to allows software companies to access this data in the new ways required by the rapidly changing world of modern devices.
This change in the way both consumers and software developers are using the internet means that connection to this world wide network is no longer a tangible experience. As these devices develop interaction with the net will become a given. The iPhone already combines many offline and online functions in an interface that does not make any differentiation between the two. Long gone are the days of watching "connecting" messages and listening to modems hiss and beep.
In conclusion: the future of computing is murky at best. The ever changing landscape of the internet leads to minor revolution in how we use our computers on a fairly regular basis. The major changes will be in how we access this resource, from the devices in our pockets to the IP TV in our living room. The internet is now an essential factor in the design of all new PC and "post PC" devices. I think we will be seeing many interesting "specific function" devices which will change how we interact with the data around us, but essentially I wouldn't want to see my beloved desktop change too much. I mean, you need a keyboard and mouse for COD4, right?
