Tom AustinLast month, Preston Gralla of Computerworld opined that he would not be surprised if a Google-Android-powered NetBook appeared right about the same time that Windows 7 ships.
Preston’s tentative prediction focused on the impact on Microsoft (“…that would be one of Microsoft’s worst Nightmares”) but I personally believe the possibility has far greater impact on mere mortals (people who happen to use computers, particularly those who use that both at work and not at work), IT professionals and enterprise IT organizations.
In the long run, mere mortals *drive* this industry. Yes, yes, enterprise IT and vendors have an awful lot to do with it. But, in the long run, it’s mere-mortal behavior that shapes the future.
So the operative question is, as security and virtualization technology gets better, as rich internet application deployment (caching) models get easier and easier and as mere-mortal behavior turns end user-devices into disposable commodities, how are corporate IT strategies going to change?
How much money can you save by pushing responsibility for device acquisition and support to the users themselves (initially on an opt in basis and initially only for those who do not need access to certain transactional systems)?
How many of us still treat calculators as capital goods?
Are any of you old enough to remember company *driving tests* to ensure you could operate the vehicle (sedan, small truck) before signing it out to you?
Category: Uncategorized Tags:
2 responses so far ↓
1 Tom Austin: NetBooks - Nightmare, Nuisance or Opportunity? February 4, 2009 at 6:04 pm
[...] MORE Share: [...]
2 Netbook deflation happening faster than I thought…50 percent in one year? February 21, 2009 at 11:14 am
[...] Josh Taylor and Andrew Nusca’s ZDNet blog, The ToyBox, had a recent item that suggests I was too conservative in my comments in my recent post Netbooks: Nightmare, Nuisance or Opportunity? [...]