future now...

an interesting challenge, and of course one that if we had the chance would make us all gadzillionaires and multi-nobel prize winners.

Earlier today I was asked for my top-10 list of solutions needed by large companies over the next 6-36months. 6 Months was easy, it is pretty much the same as today, but 3 years! A lot happens in three years.

As a technologist, it is very easy to come up with the big picture - at least the big picture according to me - but that is the problem, would my Mum want seemless communications anywhere in the world with data, video and voice available across a number of devices yet sharing content and billing? Probably not, in fact definitely not :)

Bearing in mind there are more people like my Mum in the world, that would make my prediction and big picture pretty irrelevant. Coupled with this desire to make money, and the fact that the majority of the world's population earn less than 100 dollars a month.

Therefore the question of what do we need to start building today for our future is so very dependant on the customer/market or in fact the customer's customer/market.

That means I need to go back to the drawing board - leave my ideal dream (the big picture future above) on a piece of paper and try to get my head around my customers' customers --- something, as a consumer, I wish more companies tried to do.