COMMENTARY--It's list time again, but I need your help to come up with this one.
January is a great time for lists: New Year's resolutions, shops you'll have to visit to exchange those "wonderful" gifts, places you never go again on holiday. And, of course, it's the time when people from all corners of the IT industry feel the urge to tell us where we are and where we are going.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. It's nice to have written evidence come next year when we can go back and see how close those predictions have come to actual events.
Here are just some of the predictions we've received in the leadup to 2004 (I'll save the authors the embarrassment of actually printing their names to these).
"Customer expectations of guaranteed Internet access will soar in 2004 as the home computer invades the living room." I'd have to agree with the "expectations will soar" part. But if I were making the statement I might add something about the large mobs that will be wielding torches and pitchforks when those expectations are still not met. And as for the home computer invading the living room, I think I must have heard that prediction every year since 1982. Not a bad stab, though--one of these years it'll be right!
| As for the home computer invading the living room, I think I must have heard that prediction every year since 1982. |
And a lot still must be done to make wireless hot spots more of a convenience and less of a billing nightmare.
The list of predictions goes on--you can see quite a few more in some of the other columns that appear in this month's issue. But more than the forecasts themselves, I'm interested in the people making the predictions.
Back in August of last year, I asked readers who you thought was an IT visionary here in Australia. What pundit or president was really planning for the future in IT? I'm sorry to say that I didn't get one response.
Now that could mean that no one is reading this column, but strangely enough I get responses to other columns, so what is it?
Is there no one in the IT industry in Australia able to get a room to go silent when they speak on the topic?
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Send me the name of the person you feel best lives up to these three qualities, with a brief description why. You might want to include something particulary inspiring that this person has said, or something he or she has achieved that has benefited the industry. Perhaps it's just someone you go out of your way to read about when you see their name in the news, or on the byline of an article.
I will keep the votes anonymous, so don't worry if you end up voting for someone from a competing company (and also note that you won't get the Brownie points for nominating your own boss--unless they're CC'd in on the e-mail).
I will keep you posted as to how the voting is progressing, and once I have a short list of candidates, we will put them up for a vote.
Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season, and best wishes from everyone here for 2004!
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