Having reinforced the curfew for the kids using the Xbox (and the Wii U, Nintendo 2DS, iPhone, iPad and iMac), it strikes me that IT truly is pervasive – although, on reflection, I’m not sure that ‘pervasive’ does it justice.
Way back when, there was only one device in this household, an Apple iBook. There was no broadband. We had to dial up for Internet connection, An operating system upgrade would take all night to download. Still, the trusty iBook soon expanded its role from computer to become our main music player and we also used it to keep the children entertained with DVDs when we were on holiday.
Over the course of 15 years, we added an iMac to the mix, broadband, Wi-Fi, then a couple of iPods, an iPad, another iMac, a couple of 3DSs, a 2DS, a Wii, iPhones, a Wii U, an Xbox and another iMac. By my estimates, there are now five iPhones in the house, two iPads, three iMacs, a Wii U, a 2DS and an Xbox. I still have the iBook but I haven’t switched it on in years, the iPods are still alive but never used and the Wii never gets a run out anymore either.
After conducting this technology audit of the MacInnes household, perhaps instead of ‘pervasive’, the word I’m looking for is ‘viral’. I’m sure we are not unique, not even in our loyalty to the Apple platform. So if you consider the number of families, couples and single people across Ireland with their multiplicity of devices and ever-increasing usage of the Internet for entertainment and information, you can see just how viral IT has become.
This trend is replicated at the business level, with many employees and managers using two or more devices in their daily working lives.
Changing terms
It’s not that long ago that describing something as ‘viral’ was deemed a bad thing, but that has changed. Today, when we say something ‘has gone viral’ we mean it has gained a lot of attention and interest. It’s in this new, positive context that I say IT is viral. It’s (nearly) everywhere and it’s doing its best to get to the places where it isn’t as rapidly as possible. For people working in IT or providing the products and services that enable IT, this is a good thing. With more people using more devices to access those services, the opportunities are constantly expanding at an enterprise and consumer level.
It’s not just people, either. We’re now entering the age where it has expanded to traditionally non-IT devices (or things) that are using. or will use, the Internet independently of people. Again, if you’re in the IT business, this has to be a positive thing because it broadens the potential of the technology and the opportunity.
Of course, the potentially negative side of something viral is that because it reaches into – and links between – so many parts of a business or household, it increases their vulnerability to attack and disruption. It won’t be that long before we reach the stage that when the fridge ‘sneezes’ from an attack, the laptop, TV, CCTV cameras and light bulbs will catch a cold as well. But again, the benefit for those employed in IT and providing products and services is that it broadens their opportunity to engage with customers and to sell them additional services and solutions.
For the channel, viral IT should be good for business either way.
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