May 16, 2006

Is the PC the HUB? For now it is.

While I agree that right now the PC is a HUB for business (and many consumer) activities. I'm not convinced that it will remain that way as Bill Gates and Paul Otellini (Intel CEO) write in a WSJ op-ed piece.

There is QUICKLY a shift to hosted applications. Ron Verni, CEO of Sage Software said that he expects almost half of Sage's CRM business to be a hosted model within a year or two (as I recall) from his keynote at Sage Insights 2006.

The PC is important and will remain that way (forever). However, mobile devices, terminals and other devices will rise in importance as the KING of business becomes more and more the NETWORK not the device. Again, HOW one connects to the NETWORK is important but the MOST important will be the data on the network. And there will be MANY ways to connect to it.

CNN Money writes "The PC has expanded far beyond its original use to become much more than just a sophisticated tool for creating documents and spreadsheets," Gates and Otellini wrote. "Today, we use it as a communication device, a radio, a TV, a movie theater and a photo album."

Gates and Otellini said that, last year, laptop computers based on Intel's Centrino mobile processors and Microsoft's Windows XP operating system outsold the popular iPod.

They asked rhetorically where people go to share pictures from digital cameras, download music and videos, synchronize contacts, calendars and e-mail on wireless devices or "search for that episode of 'Lost' you missed last week."

"You sit down at your PC, of course," Gates and Otellini wrote.

I think the strength of Intel and Microsoft in the coming years will be embracing a wide range of devices and helping small businesses MAXIMIZE their use of ALL technology to GROW their businesses

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