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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Where are YOUR Developers Coming From?

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An excellent post from +Ben Gracewood has sparked a Twitter conversation that all New Zealand companies should read.


And I mean all NZ companies as this is not just about +Vend Point of Sale, +Xero Accounting Software and all the other "rock star" tech companies. If you are a modern, sustainable and growing company then you're using computers to run your business. Yes, yes, I know that the majority of what's in your face is developed/maintained by large corporates such as Google, Microsoft, Oracle and the like.

But, if you've got anything that resembles "secret sauce" (the stuff that makes you different to your competitors down the road) then you already know that there is no off-the-shelf software product that truly makes your business hum. It's either a Heath Robinson affair of cobbled together large systems from the likes of Google, Microsoft which needs specialised developers working for you. OR it's something you created in-house and you need specialised develpers working for you.

And so this dearth of good quality developers in New Zealand is starting to bite us all.

I'm telling my kids now that being a developer ("software engineer") or someone that makes computers do things for people, as I have no idea what the jobs of the future will actually be, is a good move (listen to +Raj Khushal and I discuss this on our latest Access Granted podcast).

If you're interested in helping out then join in with Ben's Twitter discussion and check out:

If you know of a great resource for someone looking to fill the gap, let me know and I'll list here.

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The Future As Seen By Me In 2010

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