Our future is CLOUDED !

Apple: 

In 1983, the Mac PC, named LISA, had a memory of 1.7 MB, roughly enough for one or two pictures. $ 10,000 was the price tag.  

When asked in 1998, what "i" stands for in iMAC, Steve Jobs said " 'i' stands for internet, individual, instruct, inform and inspire."

Steve Jobs has the midas touch. This year Apple announced iCloud. I get the feeling, that Apple is on to some thing big. Really big.

Recently Apple built one of the largest data centres in the world - the size of 9 football fields, costing $1 billion. "iCloud" will be the central role in this massive data centre, selling set of online services to people to access music, photos, files and software across devices. Jobs said,

"We are going to demote the PC and the Mac to be just devices, we will move your digital hub, your digital life right in to the cloud"

Google Wallet

Finally it's here on earth. Take 5 minutes and watch these 2 videos. This will save so much of your time on learning about Google wallet. Enjoy !

Videos and link below courtesy : Greg Kumparak through TechCrunch review.

GOING THROUGH THE APP

ACTUALLY DOING A PURCHASE

Related Links:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/19/techcrunch-review-google-wallet/

#WSO2con - a hash tag to follow

Today is the 3rd day of WSO2 conference 2011, titled WSO2con

WSO2 has done some serious stuff, and some big names are in their profile. The biggest of all is eBay. 
eBay uses Open Source WSO2 Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) for more than 1 billion transactions per day ! That is roughly $2000 worth of transactions per each second.

“ Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice "
Anton Chekov

WSO2 got an idea for a conference when they did a workshop in 2009 targeting 50. It ended up with 150. Then in 2010 they had the first con attracting 250, for 2 days. This time it is bigger, global and grandeur.  The event spans a week including tutorial sessions. 

The conference has 5 themes: Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) platform, Cloud, Enterprise solutions, eGovernment & Banking and Finance.

Techy as may it sound, but what I loved most about the con was the keynotes.

1. WSO2: Disrupting the middleware industry - Dr.Sanjiva Weerawarana, Chairman, Founder & CEO, WSO2
2. The Global technology outlook - Dr. C Mohan, IBM fellow
3. Service Orientation and why it's good for your business - Sastry Malladi, Distinguished Architect, eBay.

These keynotes addressed the technology frontiers that will shape the future of our planet.

Here are some startling facts and observations:

• There were 7 billion connected devices (mobiles, tablets, pads etc) in 2010. By 2020 there will be an amazing 50 billion !
• In the arena of customer retention, the big analytic is playing a huge role
• while it is convenient to connect everything, it also allows everyone to get in, making security a challenge.
• Wireless play a key role where infrastructure is not much developed
• Growing countries can learn from the Western societies and generate less garbage and better energy consumption

Recommended : Follow #wso2con hash tag to get the latest updates from the tweeps at the con.

Powerful Partnerships - Sarvodaya + Microsoft

" Since Microsoft-Sri Lanka inception in 2003, Sarvodaya had been a powerful partner, and we are looking for a greater future ahead "
Mr.Sriyan De Silva Wijeratne, Country Manager, Microsoft Sri Lanka.

Sarvodaya was one of the entities appreciated at the “Microsoft Annual Partner Conference  and Awards Night 2011” aptly titled “ Powerful Partnerships” on Sep 13, 2011 held at Hotel Galadari.

Microsoft’s philosophy stems from Microsoft Corporation Chairman Bill Gates’ desire to see as many people as possible have access to software across the world. We see this as a responsibility, stemming from that philosophy. As a result, when a need is there, Microsoft will stand behind that need. Our focus is very widely spread.

Mr.Sriyan calls this “ creative capitalism”. Taking the ICT benefits to rural Sri Lanka is Microsoft’s aspiration, and Sarvodaya-Fusion had been with them from its’ inception in 2003. He links this to Sri Lanka’s climb in global competitive index from 79 to 52 in 2 years. http://gcr.weforum.org/gcr2011/

Yet technology readiness is an issue. That’s where ‘knowledge creation’ is important. Microsoft plans to do this in coming years with indepth relationships with their partners in private, NGO, and public sector.

I wish them all the best for an active role for a visionary Sri Lanka.

P.S: I dedicate this ‘Fusion Education’ video to Microsoft for their whole heartedness in supporting rural IT education in Sri Lanka.

Why should I be on Twitter?

Research team headed by Prof. Athula Ginige from University of Western Sydney, interacting with community at Udubaddawa Nenasala (telecentre) and Sarvodaya-Fusion team

Last week of August, as I explained, had been a week of interaction and reflection on mobile for development. From meetings, seminars, events to field visits, in every instance, they fueled my imagination for a future with great possibilities.
I love meeting people from different walks of life, and I ask questions on their usage of mobile phones, internet and of course social media. Here I note Q&A from 3 youth I met.

Meet X, a 20 year old editor of an upcoming teen magazine on education and entertainment. She's studying IT at a leading private institute and excited about possibilities of 'android' and smart devices.

Q: Are you on Twitter?
A: No, it's confusing !

I promised to do a guest post on Twitter, for their upcoming edition.

Meet Y, a 18 year old, from a remote village in Kurunegala, aspires a career in bio technology, awaiting his A/L exams next year. He uses 2 mobile phones - one for internet browsing and one for voice/text, totaling 4 mobiles and 1 fixed line in his household of 4 (father, mother, younger sister and him). Not only the team of local and foreign professors, I too was in for a surprise.

Q: Do you use Twitter?
A: Yes, I use it to share my knowledge on technology. Also I follow 'Ada Derana' and registered my mobile number in Twitter. So I get SMS on news alerts for free on my mobile.

Q: How do you manage time on social media?
A: I manage my time consciously. I get good knowledge from wikipedia on my Science studies. As I face A/L exams next year, I have cut down my interaction on social media for a minimal.

I was very happy, to see this mark of responsibility and innovation from a student of 'Fusion Education'.

Meet Z, age 30, an artist making wood handicrafts at a remote village in Kandy.

Q: How can smart phones help you?
A: I know Fusion provided a smartphone to our Sarvodaya society, and our kids are using it for their education. I know the potential and benefit of using internet, facebook and other media. Also I know it is now much more easier to get on line with smart phones. But here's the problem. I know I can input my products and contact details on web. I am very busy, working and selling my craft to make a living. I have no time to be on internet. And even if I do, how do I know if I would ever get a response to my requests? If I get a quick response, I would definitely use it.

In the coming weeks, Sarvodaya-Fusion and a team of researchers will explore the possibilities on how internet/smartphones can cater for such focused requests and quick feedback. May be tweaking of existing social media or an fresh idea for a app (mobile application).

What do you think?
Please share your comments here to spark some imagination.

September - Line up

Last week of August, saw me dashing around meetings, field visits, presentations and networking events. Refresh Colombo on 25th, TweetupSL on 27th, field visit to Udubaddawa and Maharathenna on 29th, a mobile for development workshop on 30th, a presentation at World Bank and finally ICTer conference.

3 words to distill the packed week would be : mobile, mobile, mobile.

Why?

1. Hype created by media, research and seminars
2. Most importantly rural communities are embracing the potential of mobile phones for their development.

I'll write a series of blogs in September around this mobile thing, capturing my direct experience.
So how would it affect us?

2 good questions to ask yourself at this moment would be,

1. Mobile .. for what?
2. Ok....so what?

Stay tuned for September.