In the near future you will have one computer (your phone), use many (the cloud) and have less stuff.
Long ago, we had no computers (yes, really). Slowly, the computer started its invasion. Initially, the computer stood alone.
Delen
And then Internet happened. Soon every family member had their own computer, connected via broadband. It changed the way we talk, think, learn and live. Now the ever-connected smartphone is entering the arena and is changing the game yet again.
On a normal weekday, the alarm on your phone wakes you up. An app tells you the weather and you check your notifications for email. While you have breakfast, you read up on the latest news. You get into your car, punch your destination into the phone’s navigation system and then start your favourite podcast.
At the coffee machine, you meet some of your colleagues and you show them the photos on your phone of your wonderful trip to Berlin last week. Just before lunch you check your phone to see if there is a rain alert. (This is the Netherlands, after all.) Once you’ve confirmed all is clear, you go outside, eat your lunch and read a book
on your phone’s Kindle app. You make some calls, check your Facebook timeline, post a photo of the TU Library covered in students, go back inside listening to your favourite tracks via Spotify. Back at home that night you answer an urgent email from a colleague.
It really is the one device that enables you to create, consume, remember and connect. Instead of asking why you would use a smartphone to read a book, navigate, search the web, watch television shows, you will look back and wonder how you ever did without, how your life was without one.
Soon, you will be able to find your way on campus both outside and inside of buildings. And not just directions, but also people, as you’re able to locate your friends on campus. You will also instantly see if the book you need is available, book a meeting room and find available computers. This system will integrate your social networks as well. Your smartphone is the key component. You can enter the campus, look on your smartphone and decide where you will work today and who you’ll meet.
So how will these devices fit into the existing environment at TU Delft? First of all, these devices will be highly persona. As you don’t share your glasses with a colleague, you won’t share your phone. Secondly, they will be supported through community driven documentation. I believe that the first owners of these gadgets will be glad to share their experience, creating how-to’s on the go. By doing this they will not only introduce the even more personal computer to the mainstream, they will also help develop the more and more social IT experience.
David Smit, ICT Relationship Manager
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