Planned obsolescence has always been around, though maybe not in its current form. Mostly it was the attempt by companies to persuade us to buy the latest and greatest, but even the government has a hand it getting us to spend money on new items they think we we should have. But a new dawn is approaching, one which may make technology obsolescence obsolete.
First it was computers. I can remember reading a computer magazine years ago; it was an article on buying a computer that would still be high tech two years from when the article was written. That computer was a 386; if you don’t know what a 386 is, it’s the equivalent of a Model T Ford! Needless to say the article was way off as the 486 very quickly became the processor of choice for that era.
A couple of decades later, it was PDA’s and cell phones. I had one of the original PDA’s, an HP OmniGo. The OmniGo was way ahead of its time; as the personal organizer could be used in both portrait and landscape mode, had a built-in QWERTY keyboard, and handwriting recognition software technology called Graffiti. I recall sitting at the desk in my home office thinking the ultimate device would be a cell phone with the capabilities of the OmniGo, as I would only have to carry one device. Years later these devices started appearing on the market.
Now every few months new smartphones are being advertised with features which only science fiction writers and futurists could have imagined. How many would have thought that you could be sitting at an outdoor cafe in a beautiful location, look into a device 2.5″ x 4.5″ and visually connect with someone on the other side of the country? Or that these small devices coupled with other technologies could help topple a regime? Yet the people on Madison Avenue and other advertisers along with manufacturers want us to believe that the device we have isn’t good enough any more.
Big screen TV’s were the next big thing. I recall shopping for my first “big screen” TV; it was a “32″, which tells you how many years ago that was! The set lasted for quite a while and then the next generation of HDTV’s started coming along. At the time there were rear projection units, plasma which was quite expensive and the very first LCD was on the market. My budget dictated a nice 42″ rear projection and I remember looking at the LCD and thinking this would be my next HDTV. Now, LCD is being supplanted by LED LCD and 3D. And then in an effort of one-upmanship, you thought you finally beat technology obsolescence; you bought a brand new 55″ LCD with local dimming and 3D. Soon afterword you discovered that now you could have HDTV apps. Who knows, next we could become an integral part of the movie!
But now we may be at the dawn of a new era which may make device obsolescence, obsolete. The technological change and major transformational shift I am referring to is cloud computing. While cloud computing has been around in some form for quite a while, it is about to make a sea change in the way we view and use technology.
With cloud computing, technology is no longer device-centric, the information available at our finger tips will no longer depend on buying the latest piece of hardware, whether that is a phone, computer, TV, or refrigerator. The World Wide Web will be available on any device (providing governments don’t screw it up by getting involved).
But with manufacturers needing to produce more products to remain relevant, will they find a way to make the obsolescence of technology obsolescence, obsolete?
This article was written by The Boss of HITman Services, a computer and IT company, based in Clifton Park and serving the Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties of New York.
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