TOMI™ and the Future of Computing

May 31, 2010
Russell Fish

Birth of the PC industry:

- In the beginning there were minicomputers

- - DEC, Data General, Prime, Computer Automation, Wang, SEL, Basic 4, Four Phase, General Automation, Minicomp, Modcomp,  Microdata, Varian, Unicomp, Interdata

Death of the Minicomputer:

- Ken Olsen, "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home."

- Then there were microprocessors.

- Then there was the personal computer.

Death of the PC industry:

- INTEL/Microsoft is over

- Apple is the future

What happened to Microsoft:

- Microsoft pushed Windows as far as it could go and produced bloat ware with unfixable security holes and performance de-hancements that overcame prodigious hardware improvements.

- Monopoly encourages hubris

- Gates retired to philanthropy

- Putting an economist in charge of a technology company is a bad idea.

- Open Source

- Linux

- Google Android

- Apple/Steve Jobs: Mac OS, iPod, iPhone, iPad

What happened to INTEL:

- Pushed the x86 architecture as far as it could go and produced high-power consumption low performance de-hancements that overcame prodigious process improvements.

- Monopoly encourages hubris

- Moore and Grove are retired.  Noyce is dead.

- Putting a bureaucrat in charge of a technology company is a bad idea.

- Death of Microsoft means end of reason for x86 to exist.

- "Patterson's Three Walls" means x86 is over.

- Apple/Steve Jobs: iPod, iPhone, iPad, A4

What is the future (See the future by understanding the past.)

- - Richard Stallman was right.  OS will be free because electrons are free. Linux and Android will rule the world.

- - Steve Jobs was right.  Computers will transparently disappear into products. (Customers do not want to own computers.)

- - Scott McNealy was right, "The network is the computer."  (Communications matters.  Everything will be wireless.)

- - Location, location, location. (Everything will be portable.)

- - David Patterson was right.  "The Three Walls is a Brick Wall"