October 26, 2011

Some 25 years ago, while writing my own word processor program on my Apple IIe the last thing I would’ve thought to do was to plug in a phone line or ethernet connection to access the concept of a “world wide web”.

My first taste of gathering information and data over a network of archives came from scanning microfiche film reels in the library.  This was still the case even as personal computers and laptop computers began to thrive during my undergrad years at the University of Arizona. The world wide web was more a resource for higher level academics as what we refer to today as Web 1.0 was simply just getting started.

“You’ve Got Mail”

My first real taste of the internet came with Prodigy (no not the technopunk band) but Prodigy Online, followed briefly by CompuServe and then the next really big thing America Online (AOL).  (Again, I’m feeling pretty old admitting to that).  Even though the wait time from dial tone to data chirping was maddening, yet the end result was an amazing experience of instant (or wait for it…wait for it…wait for it…downloads) information available as far as your Netscape or Explorer browser could take you.

Businesses as this point were wise to establish at least a presence in this ‘information superhighway’, and those smarter still rushed out for the great www-landgrab and reserved domain names that would be bought for thousands and hundreds of thousands years later by companies desperate for gaining access to an unlimited internet audience.

Computer hardware and internet connectivity advances rapidly enhanced this experience, changing the landscape so drastically it seemed as if all my AOL sign on names had become irrelevant nearly overnight.

Web 2.0 had arrived before most of us even knew it.  A new frontier made possible with increasing broadband internet connectivity allowed software and even entire platforms to be hosted on the web.  The information superhighway was no longer very ‘super’.  It was simply now the avenue we took to access information 24/7 provided you were close enough to your home or business internet connection.

Soon after folks started to realize the importance of having internet connection via ‘wireless’ with new generations of laptops and desktops arriving with built-in internet connectivity without need for cables and cords.  Now the internet could go with you, and soon business would follow suit.

iPhonevolution.

Palm, Blackberry and Nokia came before it but the iPhone and its app-centric fully web-enabled user experience changed the world of internet access and connectivity.  The first iPhone and Android smartphones almost treated the internet experience as a novelty, while flash forward to today’s devices and you’ll find processors and chips inside that rival the power of many desktop computers.

This mobilization of technology from touch-screen phone to tablet computer is setting the stage for the next giant leap forward where the “future” reality of business may be “augmented reality” – that is using your smartphone’s HD camera to scan and report back to you business deals and opportunities down the street from your location.

Here’s a feature on the future known as “Web 3.0″ as seen via the Discovery Channel network.  What will Web 3.0 be like?

These computer/HD videocamera/and video/voice communications hybrids are proving that business decisions both spur-of-the-moment and those well planned can be done literally at the touch and swipe of a finger at any place on the planet.

“[Mobile phones] are becoming the THE compute platform – giving you the power in the palm of your hand,” says ARM CEO Warren East.  The processing power and power saving features of chips like ARM’s Cortex A7 are one of the reasons why its very possible smartphones or perhaps we should call them the new PC’s “palm computers” will be the one and only connection to the internet and computing power most of us need.

“We’re starting to see people using that increased compute power with a much more sophisticated user interface with the ability to be able to connect to multiple screens, with the ability to seamlessly move from one form factor to another and take one’s digital world with us as we go,” East explains.  “It’s even turning into something that can do content creation – and that’s happening with the compute power that is in the palm of your hand.”

Having seen the next generation of Cortex chips in action, I would tend to agree.

These devices are not only providing power to business, but as we’re seeing in the advent of new social media outlets and communications platforms, our mobile devices are insuring the world will see every global revolution in near real-time and government censorship over its people will never be possible again.

This technology comes with incredible possibilities for the next generations of companies looking to thrive across all business platforms:  web-based management applications empowered by some degree by the new business frontiers in social media.

“Business for Today and Tomorrow”

I’m thankful that a company like AnaTango came around at just this moment, where a unique Cloud Business Management Suite is precisely that, one that is fully ready and capable for this new mobile reality.  I can imagine how difficult it might’ve been to try to adapt and evolve through the earliest stages of the world wide web to where technology has brought us today.

By offering the next stage of Adaptive Management Infrastructure (AMI), we are positioned to offer companies a forward-thinking alternative to some of the older Web 2.0 thinking and outdated, fragmented approach common to today’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

This is particularly exciting for me to be a part of.  It seems like a different world looking back as once being the kid who once programmed for his Apple IIe on horribly inadequate floppy disk drives.  Now we find ourselves in an era where technology can provide a business management suite of services fully integrated into the always available and unlimited data potential of the cloud.

What’s even more exciting is to think what’s next to come down the road for technology.  We’ve got some really great ideas of where we think its headed next, and look forward to sharing these with you as our CBMS suite leaps forward to its next release.  Stay tuned. – Rob Mayeda

AnaTango’s Chief Marketing Officer Rob Mayeda brings nearly 17 years of broadcast news/media experience to AnaTango and is a multiple Emmy-winning meteorologist and multimedia producer.  Rob is a self-described technology ‘geek’ constantly researching and testing new software and hardware designs.  Rob also leads the user-interface design and implementation for AnaTango’s Cloud Business Management Suite under AnaTango Cloud.  Contact Rob @ rmayeda@anatango.com