Hard to believe, but the 2013 prediction season has started. Much like Christmas shopping, it seems to start earlier every year.
Gartner released their Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2013 last week. It's an interesting list focused on mobile computing, the cloud, big data and analytics.
I was pleased to see The Internet of Things on the list. The Internet of Things has shown up on top trends lists since the term was first coined in the late 1990s. It's a great example of how long trends can take to reach mainstream. I agree with Gartner that this time it's real.
As I mentioned, several of the trends related to mobile and I really like this quote:
"Gartner predicts that by 2013 mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide and that by 2015 over 80 percent of the handsets sold in mature markets will be smartphones."
The personal cloud trend also interests me. Key quote:
The personal cloud will gradually replace the PC as the location where individuals keep their personal content, access their services and personal preferences and center their digital lives.
We at Small Business Labs long ago moved to the cloud for both business and personal content. In our case, the shift was driven by our need to access our files while traveling.
Gartner correctly points out that for many the driver will not be mobility per se, but the need to share content across multiple computing devices.
For example, despite only having 2 full-time residents our house has 10 computing devices (2 desktop computers, 2 notebooks, 2 smartphones, 2 tablets and 2 Internet connected TVs) that are used on a somewhat regular basis. I'm not sure we could function without the personal cloud even if we didn't also travel quite a bit.
We'll be posting more on 2013 trend forecasts and predictions as they come in. And, of course, we'll be doing our 2013 top 10 small business trends list in December.
Indeed, a world that will become greatly dependent on gadgets and technology! I just hope the essence of human relationships and good values won't get diminished even as technology becomes more and more advanced in its features and power.
Posted by: Thebeliever07 | November 07, 2012 at 09:31 AM