Are We Experiencing A Technology Tsunami?

Over the past 25 to 30 years, technology has been zipping along the mainframe to desktop route and the entire tech institution has been riding along with it (and profiting greatly from it). Lately, I find as each month progresses, I am leveraging the old basics of business and office technology less and less.

Some examples:

1. I never load software anymore - in fact I don't even use my CD/DVD player. With the advent of the App Store this week, I see it going away.
2. I carry my laptop less and less. I use my iPhone and look forward to the iPad2.
3. I can carry most key files I need on my 64GB Flash Drive (duplicates of course).
4. I don't have as many problems/issues/blowups as I used to with tech even 3-5 years ago.
5. More (if not all) of my tools and files are on the cloud, not on my laptop.
6. I hardly print anymore. Thus, no files or file cabinet.
7. Email is slowly going away for me - I text message and call more often.
8. Hardware is getting cheaper by the minute. A $500 backup HD a few years ago is $99 today.

I parallel this change in my life (and business) with the car industry. When I was growing up, cars broke down frequently — there were repair shops all over the place fixing almost every part on a car. Nowadays, it's rare to have to fix your car (maintenance excluded - I have Hondas/Acuras). Engineering, design, materials, and service just got better.

Is the same thing happening in the tech industry and all ancillary organizations who attach themselves like barnacles to tech? If so, what is the impact on the industry? What's the impact on organizations like Symantec (virus), Gartner/Forrester (advisory), HP (printing), and Microsoft (operating systems)?

How is technology changing for you? Is it getting cheaper? More efficient? Concentrated? Expanded?

I run my own business and own all Apple products. All of this is happening very quickly and I fully embrace the change. In fact, I lease all my equipment — by the time the lease runs out, the tech is obsolete anyway.

Do you see corporate tech shops getting smaller as more and more systems are simplified and delivered via the cloud? As moving parts disappear (CD's, Software, Wires, Hard Drives) do the systems, personnel, costs, support and focus also decline?

Open disclosure: I worked for Gartner for six years and was a client for seven.

Why I Love Twitter.

I've been using Twitter regularly now for exactly one year. And during that year, I have followed lots of friends and colleagues, and have made a lot of important business connections. Looking back, there is one constant that I can attribute to Twitter. It's one of the only avenues of information and connection that I utilize daily. I laugh, I learn, I follow very interesting tweets. I also have a lot of incredible people that I follow. Thank You for all your great tweets this year!

The constant: Twitter makes my life better. Not the NY Times, or the Wall Street Journal. Not the Huffington Post or Talking Points Memo. Twitter.

I find that the more that I surf news-oriented sites, the more I worry, the more I fret, the more depressed I get. I get the feeling that the job of media is to get us to worry, fret and lose hope. Why? So we come back for more.

I have a charge for you. For 30 days, I am asking myself and everyone out there to take a media fast. No more newspapers, News TV, news web sites . . . nothing. To fill that time - I'm just going to Tweet and read Tweets. How about you?

See what happens. Oh yes . . . and let me know.

I Love Michael Hyatt.

Who is Michael Hyatt? Well, let me tell you about a man called Mike in Tennessee. I first 'met' Michael on Twitter. The topics he spoke about and the 'traveling' tweets that he posted immediately appealed to me. There was an innate energy about him and what he was accomplishing.

I then visited his site. Two words: "Blown Away". This man — who not only is the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, is an accomplished speaker, leader, and social media guru. He's also a devoted family man — married for over 32 years and has five daughters and four grandchildren.

But what really attracted me to him is his focus on Leadership and Ethics. You see — Michael is rare in today's business world. He actually embraces a strict ethical and moral stance (in business and life) and strikes a decided separation from today's "laissez-faire" attitude of business leaders.

Since I also write about these topics — I was happy to stumble upon a fellow traveler.

So check him out — he just launched a new site — and I love his quote about it:

"My personal philosophy is that if you aren’t continually reinventing yourself, your company, and your brand, it’s only a matter of time before you become obsolete, irrelevant, or go out of business."

Someday, I would like to meet and speak to Michael. I think we have a lot in common.

Thank you.

I'm overwhelmed by your enthusiasm!

I've received 200+ responses over the past 24 hours from friends, colleagues, clients, and strangers (who are now friends) on my new site launch.

Not only congratulations, but sincere, precise, and constructive feedback - the backbone of any website launch. Over the next few weeks, my team and I will be integrating many of your great ideas into my site, my newsletters, my tweets, my facebook updates, and linkedin profile. WOW.

It's pretty evident that there is change in the air business-wise. Your massive response reinvigorates and redefines my beliefs on Connecting.

Thank you - Rich