The Future is NOW

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The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was, is lost, for none now live who remember it...It began with the forging of the Great Rings. Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest, and fairest of all beings. Seven to the Dwarf lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. And nine Rings were gifted to the race of Men, who above all else, desire power. For within these Rings was bound the strength and will to govern each race. But they were all of them deceived... for another Ring was made. In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, The Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret a Master Ring, to control all others. And into this Ring, he poured his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life. One Ring to rule them all... One by one, the Free Lands of Middle-Earth fell to the power of the Ring. But there were some, who resisted... A Last Alliance of Men and Elves marched against the armies of Mordor and on the slopes of Mount Doom they fought for the freedom of Middle-Earth...Victory was near. But the power of the Ring... Could not be undone... It was in this moment... When all hope had faded, that Isildur, son of the King, took up his father's sword... Sauron, the enemy of the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth, was defeated.

  • Galadriel, Lord of the Rings


 

1. Symbian one of the foremost mobile operating systems is being retired after Nokia's Microsoft deal. Microsoft's response to the growing threat from Google. Don't think Microsoft stands any chance in mobile when giants like Android & iphone are so far ahead; Nokia deal however might change the equation. I am not paying for what I get for free.

2. Microsoft is accepting open source. It has bought Wordpress. Kinect is already open. Platform independence is being promoted via Azure.

3. Bing is gaining market share in search. I presume this is because of Microsoft's deal with Facebook to promote Bing as the platform's defacto search engine. My personal opinion is that there is nothing in Mirosoft's bing that is better than Google, and I have absolutely no incentive to change. Dear Microsoft, beware, Facebook bites & gives no time, it's philosophy is to make the world more open, something you (used to?) resent.

4. Google is not the only cool place to work. My smarter friends think that startup experience is always better than working for machos. I personally know an IITan working in Google palo alto from past 5 years who has just shifted to Groupon, despite the family pressure. When asked about the reason he replied; pre-IPO, speed, agility & I don't give a damn about free food or skate boards. Interesting isn't it.

I recently purchased a copy of Hackers & painters. Check out the chapter "The Other Road ahead"

Is it just me or do you think Paul Graham's super power is clairvoyance?

I am beginning to believe, though reluctantly, that the world is becoming more open & honest. Advertising & marketing are becoming more participative than show me a poster and I'll buy approach, we are setting the stage for a brave new world. With all due respect to PG's clairvoyance here are my top 5 predictions:

  1. Entertainment industry is in for a complete overhaul. I do not know a single person who has purchased music in last 5 years. The industry desperately needs to figure out a new revenue model, considering that piracy cannot be stopped. There is a lot of work already happening in this domain. Emergence of Social music systems, prominence of indie labels, subscription models for internet radio (www.last.fm ), cloud based solutions like Amazon Cloud Drive.
  2. Politics & political science will follow the Music roller coaster. Let's see if this can change. This one is tough. Wikileaks has set the ball in motion, who knows what follows next.
  3. New theory of Economics; we will move to a resource based economy rather than being dependent on modified versions of the age old barter system. As Al Gore mentions in An inconvenient truth, the choice between Gold now & Planet later is a false choice, sustainability will become the driving factor. Check the Venus Project for more details.
  4. Work life will change completely. Process driven methods will shift to precision industries, everyone else will REWORK.
  5. There will be an ideological war between gatekeepers of the dead past & proponents of a bright future. What the gatekeepers need to understand is that the future is now; unless they do they won't even have the time to react. 'Cos the times they are a changing


 

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