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Technology Futures for 2008
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Oakleigh has gazed into its web-enabled crystal ball and predicts the key technology trends for 2008 - let us know what you think
Emergence of nanotechnology, enabling storage of huge amounts of data in increasingly small physical devices (imagine being able to store 50 years of TV broadcast in a device the size of an iPod Shuffle - then imagine being able to store 10 times that amount in the same device, this is the progression that is likely to emerge).
Whilst the increase in power of the individual processor continues to obey Moore's Law, the use of aggregated processing power across computers will emerge as a significant force . This will change procurement processes both for software (software as a service) and hardware (use of kit will be maximised). The IT industry will be forced to react to growing pressure to adopt more environmentally-friendly practices, for example in the manufacture of hardware and the power usage of computers.
Virtual worlds will continue to expand as a more sophisticated deployment of social networks. Their take-up and reach will depend on the successful conquering of copyright, personal safety and ease-of-use issues as well as the availability of the increased power promised above.
Virtual worlds are an example of WEB 2.0 technology, a fuzzy term used to cover a variety of technology advances on the internet - but which may be summarised in non-technical terms as technology which enables:
- Supporting individual production and user-generated content
- Harnessing the power of the crowd
- Managing data on an epic scale
- Enabling the architecture of participation
- Liberating network effects
- Encouraging openness
Exponential growth in the use of hand-held and mobile devices. Large investments being made by significant players in this market (e.g. Google's investment in mobile technology) are similar to investment made in the PC market a few years ago. Expect to see continuing rapid technological developments, more form-factors, increased accessibility and bandwidth, all resulting in raised customer expectations.
* Moore's law states that number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit is increasing exponentially, doubling approximately every two years. In fact Intel have actually exceeded that prediction and plan to continue to do so for the next 10 years.
** "virtualisation". See www.forrester.com and www.gartner.com for these forecasters view on this area.
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