According to the article, in 1990, during a keynote speech, Bill Gates predicted that information would be at people's fingertips. Achieving this vision required the following: powerful computers, more powerful networks, and easy access to a broad range of information. Well, in 2009, these three requirements have been met, but the bar has also raised. In 2009, we are at another milestone facilitated by the convergence of broadband, applications available over the Internet, the ability to virtualize PCs server-side, ubiquitous edge device access to information.  Today, millions of computer literate consumers use these technology building blocks for even more, innovative and real-time communications and information capture, distribution and access across all aspects of their lives. 

Obviously, the challenge of leveraging these new technologies for businesses is different than for consumers and not for the faint of heart. If a business embraces the wrong technology, it can be in a rut for several years until they "upgrade." According to Capgemini, the business cycle for IT decisions is 10 years. Therefore, it would take 10 years to correct such mistakes, creating an unrecoverable exposure that few are ready to embrace. As a result, most businesses follow rather than lead when it comes to leveraging new technologies. They must carefully identify their needs and make feature, function and skill trade-offs and become comfortable with the controls.

Probably the biggest heartburn is where company information resides. Currently, most business users have a desktop, laptop or both (I'm ignoring handheld devices). The information needed by the user is on their desktop, laptop, company repository or distributed among end-user devices and data center servers. This translates to the need for timely backups and data synchronization as well as the potential loss of information if the device is lost or stolen.

It seems that the Star Trek writers figured out a solution to this problem several decades ago. Their crew used walkie-talkie-like devices that evolved from talking between the crew to communicating with the ship's computer. They skipped the "personal computer" in favor of a small edge device that served as voice communicator, environmental sensor, GPS, camera, projector, etc. In short, they carried or wore a "terminal." The information model was pretty rudimentary and comprised of a simple communications device and a connection to the Starship Enterprise's computer (the data center). Each crew member had the power of the Starship Enterprise's computing and information at their fingertips.

Given the bandwidth and features currently available for edge devices, the biggest challenge is associated with the edge device in terms of cost (includes software and support) and the information it contains. We already see the convergence of edge device functionality. The hump that we need to get over is the "terminal" versus the "PC edge device" transition.  Virtualization of PCs in data centers enable businesses to centralize their users' PCs, protect the data, backup the data and provide the capacity they need.  The data centers can be outsourced or virtualized in a cloud, providing all sorts of flexibilities that should not affect the business users' access to the information they need to provide superior service and close deals. This leaves the edge device functionality as the focus.

The difference between "terminal" and PC is all about where information is and the cost to manipulate it:

• A "terminal" is a relatively dumb device that provides interaction and is able to accept multiple sources of input and accept multiple forms of presentation and communicate with the relevant services in the cloud e.g., a browser or virtual desktop. The terminal is a low-cost, stateless device with over-the-wire or over-the-air firmware updates and requires no configuration, no support or maintenance.
• The PC is a device that has an operating system that hosts multiple applications and includes clients for client-server applications and is a repository for local data.

Sometimes, the term thin-client is used to refer to a PC-like device and sometimes it refers to a real "terminal."  If it is anything more than an input/output device, it is a PC.

From my perspective, any business looking to leverage the potential agility and efficiencies of cloud computing should seriously look at a terminal-based edge device access model. Using a terminal approach provides a low-cost framework to quickly and easily deploy significant application functionality (even yet to be invented new functionality). The functionality can be added quickly because it is provided on the server-side or within the cloud without having to make any changes to the edge device.  Additionally, a terminal avoids the typical PC-based edge device support, maintenance resource and costs. Using the terminal approach, enabling applications is significantly more responsive to the marketplace since it can immediately leverage the huge inventory of legacy applications and information without having to build new front-ends.

In summary, the edge device technology directions are becoming clearer because of the following drivers:

• Broadband access - wireline and wireless - is increasingly pervasive
• Smart handheld devices are becoming more powerful to support the functions
• Laptops are shrinking to smaller packages (e.g., netbooks)

• Desktop computers are shrinking to PC-based clients
• Terminal devices that provide rich presentation and accept inputs and transmit outputs to computing in the cloud are emerging