Pure genius. I did not understand it at the time but what foresight. The phrase - "the network is the computer". It was coined in 1984 by a company which was the yin to Microsoft's PC yan - Sun Microsystems.
Those of us who have been in IT for while know that things go in circles. Like the seasons and the weather. But now - there is a fundamental shift taking place. Should IT be centralised like in the mainframe era - or should it be de-centralised with all the power given to users? It's an outdated question. Both are now demanded. As networks, computing and storage have become independent through virtualisation - so IT has become service centric. As a bi-product, it has become impossible to draw as well - so now we just refer to "the Cloud" (because this is how engineers got around the drawing limitation).
Who could have predicted the end of Sun? mmm yes, an Oracle. What about the end of the PC? It's been hailed before but now there are signs that the PC is in its Autumn years. The range of client devices being demanded in the corporate world is being driven by the liberating effects of Cloud computing and virtualisation. Why can't I bring my own device to work? And why can't it be an Apple 'cos its cool? IT - just make my apps work (even the Microsoft ones).
For an explanation of Cloud and other things - visit www.2decipher.com
