5G + HTML5 = Magic

Image via WikipediaWhen we get there it will be like there is just one operating system on all smartphones and tablets. Better, it will be like there is not even an operating system. The browser is all you need. And it will be a rich browser.

For the longest time the underlying assumption has been that if you want rich applications you need to do it on the desktop. On the smartphone we call them apps. By the time you hit 5G and HTML5 we will have crossed a threshold. The reverse will be true. The not rich applications will be on the desktop and in the form of apps on smartphones. The truly rich apps will be all browser based. That is really something.

This is not just an always on premise. This is an always on, and really really fast premise. And HTML5 is that architecture that all top tech companies are rapidly gravitating towards. When we get there it will be like all of software will have to be reinvented, redone. All apps will need a redo. There will be a lot of work to go around for sure.

The single biggest failure of the stimulus bill of 2009 was that taking every American into gigabit broadband territory was not the centerpiece of that legislation.

Tens Of Billions Of Devices

Image via WikipediaThe smartphone as a form factor has been firmly established. The tablet as a form factor has been firmly established. There will be new generations of laptops, tablets and smartphones that will respond to new developments in software, hardware and connectivity. But the basic form factor level innovation now perhaps has moved to things that will be smaller than the smartphone. In an earlier post I called it the wrist watch. But the wrist watch is only one of 100 possibilities. By the time you get to small, smart flying objects you are looking at some serious damage.

The wrist watch metaphor is erroneous since most of these devices will not have screens. They will simply sit there and collect data, lots of it, like the fly on the wall. The data thus collected might be displayed on the screens of the larger form factors.

There was a wonderful article I read on the topic at ReadWriteWeb a few days back that I have not been able to dig up. But there is a similar post on AllThingsD.

Beyond Tablets: The Next Five Computing Form Factors

Google Is Mind Blowing

Image via CrunchBaseGoogle conquered search. I remember the days when I used to fondly display the Google search engine on my personal homepage on Geocities. This was when Google had just launched. The company has come a long way since.

It conquered search. It floundered on social, the next big trend, for a few years. But now it seems to also have mastered social. Google Plus is a big hit.

It has conquered the mobile space with Android.

Big Data is the next big thing after social, I think, many think. Google is doing some really interesting things in that space. Facebook is not, Apple is not. Microsoft might, but is not. Many new startups are doing better work than Microsoft in that space. Just like social belongs to Facebook, Big Data deserves to belong to new names, not Google. But Google is proving surprisingly resilient.

People talk about the magic of Apple. I never really got it. For me the magic has always rested with Google.

And that is not even talking about Google X. Google thinks long term like no other company I know. I think Google more than Apple is poised to end up the most valuable company in the world. Google X has been working on entire new industries of the future. Much of it comes across as sci-fi.

I love Google like some people love Apple. But that is no news. That has always been true for me. But I have always been fascinated by the Steve Jobs life story.

It's a buy from me on Google stocks.

If I were forced to choose between Gmail and Facebook, I would pick Gmail. But I am glad I am not being forced.

Happy New Year (2)

@paramendra
Paramendra Bhagat Happy New Year http://t.co/Q0iM006H
Jan 01 via GoogleFavoriteRetweetReply

@paramendra
Paramendra Bhagat Nowhere near Times Square, but you get the point. :-) Happy New Year! 2012 is going to be prosperous!
Jan 01 via txtFavoriteRetweetReply

@paramendra
Paramendra Bhagat I can't see the ball. Damnit. :-;
Jan 01 via txtFavoriteRetweetReply

@paramendra
Paramendra Bhagat Central Park rabid fireworks.
Jan 01 via txtFavoriteRetweetReply

Happy New Year

Via Deborah Lilly Weddington

My idea of New Year was to go for a long walk in Queens. And soon I am headed to Times Square. After midnight I might be headed to a party in the East Village.

Happy New Year everyone! It is going to be exciting.

Chikni Chameli

Texting While Driving Asks For Driverless Cars

Image via WikipediaSome people are referring to it as an epidemic. People who text while they drive are more likely to get into an accident. That sounds like common sense. But the real solution is not to ban texting, although it might make short term sense. The real solution is to speed up and end up with driverless cars.

Self Driving Google Car

Related articles

• Driverless cars will redefine public transportation (kottke.org)
• Google Gets Patent For Driverless Car Technology (techie-buzz.com)
• Google secures patent for driverless cars (sociable.co)
• Google Awarded Patent for Driverless Car Technology! (bfreenews.com)
• Google gets patent for its driverless cars (venturebeat.com)
• Google granted driverless car patent (techradar.com)
• Google gets patent on driverless car tech (slashgear.com)
• Google granted patent for its driverless car project (9to5google.com)
• Google granted driverless car patent | News | TechRadar (techradar.com)
• Google wins patent for driverless car technology (fmeccawi.wordpress.com)

The Coming War On General Computation

Via Timo

Is Tech Blogging Dying?

Image via CrunchBaseMy short answer is no, not at all.

But there is a minor storm on the topic going on. It was, I believe, started by Jeremiah Owyang.

End of an Era: The Golden Age of Tech Blogging is Over

Many people have pitched in with their own reply blog posts. Notables like Pete Cashmore, Fred Wilson, and Loic Le Meur - founder of Le Web conference in Paris - have participated in Jeremiah's comments sections. Pete Cashmore's comment is particularly interesting.

Sarah Lacy: Golden Age of Tech Blogging Done? I Couldn't Disagree More
Brian Solis: Is the Golden Age of tech blogging over?
Marshall Kirkpatrick: The Next Era of Tech Blogging: 3 Things That Could Make it Better
Hugh MacLeod: Oh No! Blogging is REALLY, REALLY dead this time!!!!!! :D

TechCrunch Predicts The Year Ahead

Image via CrunchBaseTechCrunch: "No one knows what the future holds, but I can guarantee you the world will look be different – again – at the end of next year."

This statement is almost irresponsible. It is more fitting for The Onion than for TechCrunch.

It is funny. Who would have thought?

Could Google+ End Up Bigger Than Gmail?

Image via CrunchBaseLooks like Facebook has some real competition on its hands. The numbers are looking really good for Google+ right now and they keep getting better. Finally after Wave and Buzz and Orkut and a few other attempts Google seems to have nailed social.

But I think Google+ is different from Facebook. In terms of the social graph it resides somewhere between Twitter and Facebook, although Facebook's new subscribe feature brings it more into the Google+ realm.
Image via CrunchBase
If Google+ ends up with something like 400 million users by the end of 2012, that will be remarkable. The news will not be that it has become half the size of Facebook. The news will be that it has become bigger than Gmail.
Image via CrunchBase
Google+ might many people's solution to the inbox problem. Don't clutter people's inboxes, instead send out a Google+ post. That is the message. Whats' the difference between an email that never got read a Google+ post that never got seen? Not much.