The Future As Seen By Me In 2010

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Well looky here, things one has scanned in eh. (ignore the photo, that's some guy that made some accounting software, not sure what became of him ;) MIKE RIVERSDALE is fuming. The expensive headphones he bought in Sydney three weeks ago have just died. His first reaction is not to randomly spill expletives into his coffee, but to use his iPhone to vent his frustration to his Twitter con- tacts, under the moniker Miramar Mike. "I will also put, 'What should I do?' It's a conversation. I'm reaching out to the people following me." The council predicts hand-held digital devices such as smartphones will rule the world in 2040. They already rule the life of Mr Riversdale, whose company WaveAdept helps businesses adapt - their computing sys- tems to allow staff to work from anywhere - and with anyone. In order of fre- equency, he uses his iPhone to tweet (1136 followers; 8363 tweets since joining), e-mail, make phone calls and use online services, such as checki
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Why is it easier to work outside an organisation than in it?

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Despite the figures (who really made these up) I agree with the sentiment:
"We zeroed in on a central disconnect," said Francis, in San Francisco. "Only 44 percent of people can find what they need on a corporate intranet, [whereas] 87 percent can find what they want on the Web. … The consumer Web has shown us a better way with Flickr, where you can always find the right image, or YouTube, where you can always find the right video. So why is it so hard to find corporate information?"

source: eWeek.com: Salesforce.com Quietly Acquires Content Management Company Koral

And so, why?
Why is it easier to search/find the whole Internet for "non structured" info than it is in every (tell me if I'm wrong) organisation. I'd love to know how easy it is inside Google!?!?

My view - it's easier because the 'available and 'findable' components of information has had to be pared back to the absolute basics. There is search (normally Google), there is browsing (click from somewhere/anywhere) and there's subscription (RSS). And that's about it. Nothing else, nothing fancy, nothing extra, just the basics. And why - because the average user doesn't have the time, the inclination or the energy to try and work out what some fancy nancy system is asking them to do.

With the new ("Web 2.0") ways of doing stuff (the 'usable' in my three columns of IM) is also now starting to become just as easy as trhe basics are catered for - linking, subscribing, publishing, re-using ... all getting easier and easier.

Within in an organisation ... the fancy nancy systems cannot be avoided. They are foisted upon us by IT sales people that have got to the CEO/CIO and installed by IT departments that are focussed ont he latest toys and CV-enhancing s/w. The poor old sod that has to use them is rarely even asked.

In my view, this is changing. Google, Flickr, Yahoo!, SalesForce.com and the rest have raised the bar and IT departments had better catch-up or be left wondering where all the work/$$$s went.

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The Future As Seen By Me In 2010

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