Cape Town, 31 Aug 2012
Technology is moving at a faster pace than what people can imagine, and its progress is inescapable, says Gartner.
Speaking at the Gartner Symposium, in Cape Town, Gartner managing VP Daryl Plummer said there has been more innovation in the last 10 years than in the past three decades combined. He pointed out that the biggest change is that the way people are using technology is different to the way it used to be.
Plummer noted there are things that are about to become the norm that are currently emerging. “We have moved into the future, into the 21st Century, although sometimes we act like we are in the 20th Century.”
The idea of interfacing with a machine through biometrics so that it is difficult to distinguish between the real world and a virtual reality is not that far away, said Plummer. While the current working generation may not want this, the next one will.
“Technology is not the point anymore; what matters is how we use it to deliver a certain outcome.”
Plummer referred to mega trends such as lifelogging, accessibility and contextual computing as aspects that are “making waves in our world. We think privacy is important; our children don't care.
“Boy, are we acting like our grandparents.”
The fact that everything is stored online and it would only take 1.5 petabytes to store a standard definition film and audio of someone's entire life creates business opportunities, such as analytical insights into aspects like health and marketing, said Plummer.
Augmented reality will pave the way for real-time analytics to become a reality. We are already using devices that allow us to gesture at things, such as the Nintendo Wii.
Technology has become so cheap that society is fast moving towards flexible viewing screens that are almost throw-away, noted Plummer. Technology is also moving towards mobile devices that are embedded in ears.
All of these aspects create business opportunities, but companies need to innovate.
“Fear is the enemy; it's the only enemy and it's the one thing that can hold us back.”
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