On Technology Trends

Three trends in personal technology are note worthy:

1) The User Interface (UI) is the computer
2) Different UI's fill different needs
3) Data doesnt differentiate between UI's

1) The UI is the computer:

Once upon a time, computers filled entire rooms. Then they came in big beige boxes. Finally, the iMac shrunk all the innards and hid them behind the LCD screen and thus began the age of the UI. The iPhone is one big UI.


2) Different UI's fill different needs

In olden times, a warrior carried a knife, a shield, a sword and other fighting equipment. Today, in the information age, the UI is the equipment we take to battle. I might take just my mobile device on my jog to listen to podcasts/news. To a meeting, I'll take my laptop to make presentations. At home I'll use a desktop (or desktop replacement laptop) to complete multiple tasks efficiently.

3) Data doesnt differentiate between UI's

Data is UI agnostic. Today, I cant have a video conference on my cell phone as easily as I can on my laptop, or create or edit documents as easily. Just like my laptop will not be as portable as my mobile device (by definition) there are some inherant reasons why differnet UI's will always have some advantages, but they will converge.