John - From conservative Intel, here's a current (and extraordinary) take on the market WIND is the leader of:
"...the number of networked interactive computers will (soon) surpass the number of people in the world..."
(Dr. David Tennenhouse - INTC Computing Conference)
It would appear that Professor Allen Benn's olde predictions posted on SI's WIND thread are becoming reality.
--alan
newsalert.com
> March 15, 2000
>
> Intel's Computing Continuum Conference Explores Next 20 Years of Computing;
> Dr. David Tennenhouse Urges Research Community to Advance Focus from
> Human-Centric to Human-Supervised Computing
>
> SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 2000--Intel Corporation's Dr. David
> Tennenhouse, vice president and director of research, today delivered the
> opening keynote speech at Intel's Computing Continuum Conference, a landmark
> gathering of 500 attendees from research, academia and industry who met to
> present and exchange ideas about the future of computing.
>
> In his keynote speech, Tennenhouse explained that the computing industry is
> approaching the point at which the number of networked interactive computers
> will surpass the number of people in the world. Tennenhouse urged the research
> community to lift its sights toward the next quantum leap in capability, which
> will occur once networked computers outnumber human beings by hundreds or
> thousands to one, and craft a research agenda that can lead to increased human
> productivity and quality of life.
>
> Tennenhouse predicted that information technology, which is transitioning from
> computer-centric to human-centric, will ultimately evolve to become
> human-supervised computing -- creating a future in which computers place fewer
> demands on the people who depend on them. Tennenhouse explained that billions
> of computers will blend into everyday objects, where they will automatically
> provide us with the information, communication and services we need.
> Ubiquitous connectivity and adaptive software will enable systems to be
> self-organizing and self-configuring, creating a pervasive and largely
> invisible computing paradigm.
>
> "At every level and in every conceivable environment, computing will be fully
> integrated into our daily lives and public infrastructure," Tennenhouse said.
> "As Mark Weiser predicted, computation will become so ubiquitous that we would
> no longer be conscious of its every application, instead drawing on it as
> frequently and reflexively as when we reach for a light switch."
>
> Tennenhouse projected that in the year 2000 the industry will produce eight
> billion microcomputers, more than 95 percent of which will be embedded into
> objects such as equipment, buildings, machinery, cars and clothing. The
> opportunity, said Tennenhouse, is to evolve the research community's focus
> from networking the 150 million computers shipped each year, to empowering the
> eight billion microcomputers shipped with network connectivity and adaptive
> software.
>
> "The research community has no choice but to follow the numbers of
> microcomputers shipped and invest a larger fraction of its intellectual
> capital in this space. By doing this, we'll be moving from an environment in
> which our sources of information are largely human-mediated to an environment
> in which computers tap directly into a tremendous volume of information
> concerning the world around us," said Tennenhouse.
>
> Some of the groundbreaking computing devices that will help bridge today's
> computing world with a new vision of the future include: a shoe computer, a
> wireless digital input pen that writes on any surface, and a mobile computer
> smaller than a bar of soap that consumes 1.5 watts and weighs 230 grams... |
