Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Year in Small Business Technology
Thursday, December 15, 2011 by Michael Lewis
At the end of year, we like to look back at the stories and
trends that have driven small business technology.
Decline of BlackBerry
Long before the iPhone and Android-based smartphones dominated
the market the BlackBerry was king. The BlackBerry's design was
centered on its ability to quickly send and receive messages;
either in the form of emails or via BlackBerry messenger. Before
mobile broadband was widely available, the BlackBerry's ability to
quickly send secure messages made it a very powerful tool for small
business people. One no longer had to be tied to a desk to stay in
touch with what was happening at the office or at store fronts
across the city or county.
Mobile broadband and full powered web browsers have redefined
what people can do with their mobile phone. In October
ComScore reported that RIM's market share dropped 5 percentage
points from 24.7% to 19.7%. At the same time, Android-based phones
and iPhone's market share continued to see strong growth. RIM has
released handset competitors (the Storm and the Torch) but neither
has caught on.
Rise of Tablets (At least the iPad)
The iPad 2, released in the spring, brought multitasking,
folders and improved performance. It also merged iPhone and iPad's
version of iOS. The new iPad feels far more polished. RIM, Dell,
Motorola, and many others have all attempted to release tablets to
compete with Apple's juggernaut. For 2011, the iPad remains
unchallanged. In 2012, Microsoft will be releasing a tablet
specific version of Windows 8 and Google will continue to refine a
tablet version of Andriod. But it is unlikely to make too much of a
dent in Apple's lead. We can also expect Apple to release a third
iteration tablet sometime in the spring.
Next Gen OSs
This summer both Apple and Microsoft took big step forward with
OS design. We outlined new features for both OSX
Lion and
Windows 8. Since then, Apple launched Lion as a direct download
product from its new Mac App Store. After some early bumps, Lion
has established itself as solid OS. We have also learned a lot
about Windows 8. Microsoft plans on releasing an ARM-only versoin
of the OS for tablets. The ARM version will only have the Metro
mobile interface. The beta is due out in Feburary 2012.
Google Plus
Google Plus was going to be really cool. After several
false starts, it looked like Google had got its social network
right. Google Plus took the basic idea of Facebook but without some
of the technical limitations. Google Plus brought a lot of
interesting ideas to the table. It made it very easy to group
friends and create separate audiences. This helped eliminated some
of the privacy concerns that have plagued Facebook for the last few
years.
But after much fanfare, Google Plus has not taken off outside
the tech community. That is not to say that the service is dead.
Google continues to make interface updates and mobile apps. Google
has also lifted restrictions on Brand pages.
Until next time -
Mike Lewis
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Support &
Consulting
DC IT Support &
Consulting
Outsourced Marketing Services
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