Life Post PC: The cloud, the mobile and the network
Mark Iremonger, head of digital and planning at Proximity London, on the ‘next big thing’; a Holy Trinity that frees you from the shackles of keyboard, mouse and PC-working…
In 2015 it will be the Mobile Revolution we point at as ‘the next big thing’ after Web 2.0 for consumers.
The semantic web is interesting, but it’s the Mobile Revolution that has the potential to transform people’s lives. And by Mobile Revolution I mean everything connected through one or two lightweight devices with super-long battery life.
After more false starts than the Grand National, finally, mobile is coming of age, because it is supported by its good friends; cloud computing and networks. They have come together as a Holy Trinity to create the ‘One Ring to rule them all, And in the darkness bind them’. And the One Ring, I am afraid, seems to be coming in the form of a touch sensitive tablet.
People have been tied to keyboards and mice for too long, it is the tablet that will be the death of them and good riddance I say. The Mobile Revolution has opened a door to a Post PC world.
Now, before you call me mad; remember those little styli people used to peck away at their smart phones on? They’re Dead. Gone. Wiped out. By iPhone. Once you use your digit you never go back. Apple is getting everyone to stroke, swipe and tap. And they’re doing it sitting, standing, lounging or lying, not just sitting upright at a flat surface. And I like that.
A few months ago a new client win has really sharpened my view on this; I’m spending much more time on a train. Which has turned my trusty laptop and PSU into a heavy, power and space hungry beast. It has forced me to look for ways to ‘work lighter’. I resolved to cast off my PC comfort blanket and take a leap of faith into a Post PC Way of Working.
It has been incredibly hard to let go of the safety line a laptop represents in my professional life. It holds everything, runs PowerPoint, I think on it, spend the majority of my work time using it, but I’m getting there, thanks to the Holy Trinity. I’m getting Post PC. It still feels fraught with risk (I do lots of presentations), but it’s working. I’m doing more and more from the cloud, using a tablet, a phone and wireless data.
The cloud: Having everything everywhere really is working now. I use two services that have cut down the time I spend on things – Evernote (my digital assets available across all of my devices) and Kindle Whispersync (my books, notes, highlights and book marks available across all my devices). Mobileme and Google Docs are my new, ‘always on’ hard disk drive. It takes commitment to embed these services into how you work, but once you have its hard to imagine life without them. Like spectacles.
The mobile: I find an iPad still a bit embarrassing to pull out at a meeting – it’s still a bit hip. But it’s also brilliant for taking notes, and OK for presenting. Combined with a VGA adaptor it covers off the presentation end, but only really runs Apple’s Keynote, which isn’t great at importing PowerPoint, the business presentation standard. You need to keep presentations simple to successfully import them. New tablets and software will fix these problems quickly (hello Android). An iPhone with Keynote provides a back-up devices to present from.
The network: This is the weakest link but essential to Post-PC working. Having ‘fat air’ to carry lots of data at a very low cost seems to be the biggest barrier now to going completely Post PC. 3G is slow. WiFi is patchy. I use a MiFi, which is a useful gadget that lets you share a 3G connection using a mobile WiFi network.
So this is it. The ‘next big thing’; a Holy Trinity, that gives me a Post-PC approach to working, where I am freed from the shackles of keyboard, mouse and my PC. It’s been tough to convert to it but I am a believer – it’s the future.