In the “Money” section of the June 30 issue of 50plus, there is an article entitled 5 top tech trends for the post-PC era. “The PC’s place in our lives is slowly being usurped. New technology won’t just complement our trusty desktops and laptops — it will eventually take over,” say experts. “We’re now living in the post-PC era,” stated technology guru Walt Mossberg, tech columnist for the Wall Street Journal.
“So what exactly is this post-PC era we’re embarking on? While personal computers drastically changed how we work and play, experts say we’re already outgrowing them. In the future, we’ll increasingly turn to devices like tablets and smart phones to do many of the things we now do on our computers. Those in the know say this transition to a multi device era is going to be a long one.
Computers will still have a place in our lives, we’ll just be using them less often — and buying fewer of them. For instance, instead of buying a second computer, consumers may put that money towards a tablet instead. Instead of upgrading or replacing their PC more often, users will get more life out of their computer by focusing on complementary devices.” Market research firms like Gartner are predicting a slow down in the PC market in the next decade.
Speaking at Ideacity 2011, Mr. Mossberg outlined 5 top tech trends in this post-PC or multi-device era. I have taken the liberty of adapting some of his ideas to the transportation industry.
#1 The internet will become invisible
“In the post-PC era, the internet will become as invisible as the electrical grid,” says Mossberg. In other words, it will become so integrated into our lives that we’ll also stop thinking of ourselves as “going on the internet” or as “users” or “clients” of this technology. With “cloud” technology, more of our software and information (like documents, contacts, music and video) will be online — making them accessible on all of our devices rather than tied to a specific computer. In fact, some devices like Google’s Chromebook are already cloud-based — and internet access will no longer be optional.
This trend is beginning to unfold in the transportation industry. Shippers now access carrier websites for a variety of information (e.g. shipment statuses, PODs). Carrier salespeople now review shipper websites to see their products, plant locations and business plans. They access their own websites for shipper lane patterns, CRM data and pricing/contribution information. In the future, shippers and carriers will consult their tablets and smartphones to perform many of these tasks and more.
#2 GUI is dying
It’s been more than a quarter of a century since graphic user interfaces (GUI) came on the scene. “It won’t be long before clicking will no longer be required,” predicts Mossberg. “Get ready to get physical with NUI — that is, natural user interface. It’s already making its way into the market place in the form of touch technology (like touch screens on tablets and smart phones) and gesture technology (using motion to control the actions on a screen, like in the latest gaming systems).”
One can certainly envision many of these touch and motion sensitive devices being used on the plant floor, in the warehouse, in the office, in the cab of a truck and in the retail industry for pick-up information, trailer loading and load planning and for the movement of goods throughout a warehouse.
#3 Social networking getting bigger… and smaller
“Social networking is only in its first inning,” says Mossberg. While we continue to see new functionality and wider integration, privacy is also a growing concern. When it comes to sharing content, our radius is getting smaller, not larger, he says. Users are getting smarter about these tools. We’re more careful about who we follow, “like” or “friend” on social networks, and more careful about what we post. As we get more social online, we also get more selective — a tendency that will shape the future of social networking.
While Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and youtube are all being used in Transportation, to varying degrees, their full impact has yet to be felt. A number of people with whom I speak still question the value of these services. On the flip side, many of these folks don’t know or haven’t taken the time to learn how to use them effectively. Those folks who have taken the time to understand their benefits (e.g. recruiting on LinkedIn) are gaining great value and this trend can only increase in the years to come.
#4 Prepare for the platform wars
As we learned when Betamax went up against VHS, different platforms and formats compete for our attention — and sometimes there are casualties. We’ve seen these “platforms wars” before, says Mossberg. “For instance, Microsoft cornered the corporate market over Apple in the 1980s, and the 1990s saw Internet Explorer defeat Netscape.
“Now the stakes are higher, and the players more numerous. It isn’t just Apple and Microsoft angling for attention — add in Amazon, Facebook and Google too. Surprised to see the latter names on the list? These companies’ platforms are bigger than you think. (For instance, Amazon isn’t just a marketplace — it also rents out cloud computing servers. Google isn’t just a search engine — it’s also in the cloud and developing operating systems and applications.)”
The IT departments at many shippers and carriers are already wrestling with these issues. Will the iPhone dominate smartphones or will Android and Microsoft-based phones become the smartphone platform of choice? Will Blackberry survive? Will Microsoft’s cloud computing platform win out over others or will many folks insist on having most of the “Office” functionality remain in a fully featured PC?
#5 Consumerization of IT
“Individuals won’t be the only ones feeling the impact of the post-PC era. Employers will feel it too — especially companies’ IT departments. Once the keepers of all things relating to technology, these departments will have to give up some of their power and become more flexible as employees bring their own devices and preferences to the table,” warns Mossberg.
“In other words, the IT department may no longer be able to dictate that all employees use certain tools like a smart phone from one particular company, for example. Instead, it will have to support how employees want to work. IT personnel will have to embrace a wider range of products and applications, and large companies may no longer be able to corner the corporate marketplace.”
The coming years will be very exciting as various devices and platforms evolve as we enter the post-PC or multi-device era.
