CNN has it all wrong!
Earlier today I took the time to read several interesting stories on CNN about technology. They made me realize that now, more than ever it is a great time to be alive. Never before in the history of the human race have we seen the pace of technological change this rapid. In the last 100 years (a insignificant amount of time) we have gone from a humble agrarian society to a globally interwoven web of both political and social networks resulting from the rapid adoption of information technology. We hold tiny computers in our hands that allow us to speak to (or text message!) anyone, anywhere, anytime. Those same devices allow us to receive and filter information from around the globe into small, easy to understand chunks important only to us. This ability brings new depth to how each individual can control and use the huge wealth of information available in today’s world.
News and information flow freely around the world allowing groups of people to discover and integrate new ideas at a intense pace. In today’s world the classic development cycle no longer has any meaning. Products are developed, tested, and delivered to market in short deliberate cycles, each following on the heels of the last. Right about the time Apple Computer’s top product is announced, the company’s next big product enters the testing phase. If a scientist in one part of the world makes a discovery, a student may integrate that discovery into their own research only days later. Technology is being developed and adopted at a pace not unlike a car speeding down a windy road at night using only the parking lights to guide our way. Although we cannot see to far into our technological future, the rush of it all keeps us firmly in our seats, always bracing for the next turn in the road.
The special feature on CNN that talks about several new technologies claims that each hold great promise and therefore warrant special attention. After reading these stores I decided to make some comments on how I felt about what three of them had to say. So each in turn, below are the technologies both me and CNN found to be worthy of our attention:
Former Oracle exec: ‘We will destroy Oracle’ – This story talks about how Salesforce.com is changing how software developers are implementing business process software. Now I personally could care less about this but one interesting point made was how their efforts are going to put a thorn in the side of Oracle, which complete escapes my understanding since Oracle only markets databases (and related) software. I do feel that the comment itself is fundamentally correct, just not for the reasons they cite. Put simply, Oracle will die over time because it has no means to adapt to change. Sure, they could write a new version. But what exactly could they do with it? Think about it, why does anyone need a new database engine? My assessment is that they don’t and thus is why Oracle (and anyone else in that end of the business) should instead concentrate on what really matters today, wide area information management. Leave the business of storing data on physical hard drives to someone else (mySQL?).
Goodbye Wi-Fi: wireless signals get maximized – This one talks about how the new Wi-Max wireless broadband standard is going to take over the market. Sure, faster wireless is a good thing, but lets focus on the reality here. Wireless broadband is already a reality for many users thanks in part to two recent developments in technology. Less-than-gifted users who forget to secure their personal wireless networks 
and cell phone providers who are scrambling to implement faster wireless in order to lure more subscribers to their networks. If my cell phone gives me wireless broadband and the local Starbucks lets me leech their connection for free then I don’s see much of a market for anything else. Don’t get me wrong, for some this might be just-the-thing but mainstream adoption is unlikely.
Disrupting death – This was bound to happen, medial researchers are developing technologies to directly target cancer cells. Don’t know what that means? It’s very simple, program tiny nano-scale devices to seek out specific (cancer) cells, inject, then pee out the results (no more cancer). Scary, but not unexpected. This technology is only starting to be really developed now but has been widely predicted for almost 10 years. What this means in the long run is anyone’s guess but I would not rule out this technology becoming one of the great achievements of mankind, allowing for far more than just cancer treatment.
So there you have it, my latest mega-rant on technology!
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