I admit I was wrong. In my previous post, I claimed that mobile devices would be free of corporate bureaucracy (and control). That's not true.
It's true in the sense that when the Acme corporation buys PCs it can control them with ActiveDirectory and group policies, and that similar infrastructure is not in place for tablets and smartphones. (I'm ignoring the third-party Mobile Device Management software.)
But it's false in the sense that corporations do control the mobile devices. The corporations are not Acme or whoever buys the devices. The controlling corporations are the owners of the walled gardens: Apple, Google, Amazon.com, and Microsoft. These corporations control the software available and the updates that occur automatically. (Yes, you can turn some updates off, but only while those corporations let you.)
The control that these companies exert is indisputable. Apple just recently placed a copy of a U2 album on every iPod and iPhone. Some time ago, Amazon.com deleted books from various Kindle e-readers. These companies are the "tribal chieftains", with immense power over the devices.
Android and iOS are popular in part because they are easy to use. That ease of use comes from the absence of administration tasks. The administration has not disappeared, it has moved from the "owner" of the device to the controlling company. Apple builds the updates for iOS and distributes those updates (along with updates to apps) to iPhones and iPads. Google does the same for Android devices. Microsoft does the same for "Metro" apps.
It may be this control that makes corporations reluctant to use tablets. They may know, deep down, that they are not in control of the devices. They may realize that at any moment the tribal chieftains may change the software, or worse, read or modify (or possibly delete) data on the devices. They may grant other individuals access to mobile devices.
All of this does not mean that corporations (the Acme variety, who are using the devices) should avoid mobile devices. It *does* mean that corporations should use them intelligently. They should not manage tablets and smartphones in the same way that they manage PCs, and they should not use tablets and smartphones in the same way as they use PCs. The model for mobile devices is very different from PCs.
Business can use tablets and smartphones, but differently than PCs. Data should be handled by specific apps, not generic applications like Microsoft Word and Excel. Mobile apps should authenticate users, retrieve a limited set of data from servers, present that data, manipulate that data, and then store the data on the server. Apps should not store data on the local device. (This is also good for the scenario of a lost device -- if it has no data, there can be no data "leakage" to unauthorized parties.)
Mobile devices are controlled by the tribal chieftains. Yet they can still be used by corporations -- and individuals.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Mobile devices may always be independent from corporate bureaucracy
The mobile revolution is different from the PC revolution.
The PC revolution saw the IBM PC adopted as the standard for personal computing. It was adopted by businesses and consumers, but most spending was from businesses.
The mobile revolution, in contrast, is driven by consumers. Individuals are buying smart phones and tablets. Businesses may be purchasing some mobile devices, but the bulk of the spending is on the consumer side.
Why is this distinction important?
To answer that, let's look at PCs and their history. Personal computers in corporations are anything but personal. They are purchased by the corporation and controlled by the corporation. The people using PCs rarely have administrator privileges for those PCs. Instead, the ability to install software and make significant changes is governed by the local copy of Windows and configurations in a central ActiveDirectory server.
The infrastructure of ActiveDirectory and Windows group policies was not built overnight, and was not part of the original PC. The first PCs ran PC-DOS and had no administrative controls at all -- any user could do anything, see anything, and change anything. Microsoft worked on PC-DOS for IBM, then MS-DOS for non-IBM computers, then Windows, and finally server software and ActiveDirectory. It took about twenty years to create, from the introduction of the IBM PC in 1981 to the introduction of ActiveDirectory in 1999.
That work was done by Microsoft because corporations wanted it. They wanted mechanisms to control the PCs and the access to data on PCs and servers. (And even with all of that interest, it took two decades to "enterprise-ify" PCs and make them part of the bureaucracy.)
Corporations were interested in PCs from the introduction of the IBM PC. (Some corporations were interested in earlier microcomputers, but they were a minority.) Corporations were interested in PCs because PCs ran Lotus 1-2-3, the popular spreadsheet at the time.
Now let's look at mobile devices. Corporations have a mild interest in mobile devices. It is only a fraction of the interest in PCs. There is no killer app for tablets, no must-have app for smart phones. (At least, not for corporations.) It is quite possible that phones and tablets are too personal for corporations.
It is telling that the Microsoft Surface tablet, with its ready-to-use connections to ActiveDirectory, has seen little interest. For consumers, the Surface (and other Windows tablets) are more expensive and not as useful as the iPad and Android tablets. But even corporations have little interest in the Microsoft offerings.
Without corporate interest (and corporate spending), neither Apple nor Google have incentive to make their tablets "safe for the enterprise" -- that is, controlled through a central administration point. (Yes, there are "mobile device management" packages, but they have little interest.)
Apple and Google will invest their efforts in other areas, such as better hardware and improved reliability of apps in their stores (and maybe higher profits).
Corporations will use tablets for small, isolated projects, if at all. I suspect most corporations view their proven and familiar desktops and laptops as sufficient, with little benefit from tablets.
But all is not lost for tablets and smart phones. Some folks will use them for critical business purposes. These folks will not be the large corporations with established IT infrastructure. They will be the start-ups, the small companies who will build completely new apps to solve completely new business problems.
The PC revolution saw the IBM PC adopted as the standard for personal computing. It was adopted by businesses and consumers, but most spending was from businesses.
The mobile revolution, in contrast, is driven by consumers. Individuals are buying smart phones and tablets. Businesses may be purchasing some mobile devices, but the bulk of the spending is on the consumer side.
Why is this distinction important?
To answer that, let's look at PCs and their history. Personal computers in corporations are anything but personal. They are purchased by the corporation and controlled by the corporation. The people using PCs rarely have administrator privileges for those PCs. Instead, the ability to install software and make significant changes is governed by the local copy of Windows and configurations in a central ActiveDirectory server.
The infrastructure of ActiveDirectory and Windows group policies was not built overnight, and was not part of the original PC. The first PCs ran PC-DOS and had no administrative controls at all -- any user could do anything, see anything, and change anything. Microsoft worked on PC-DOS for IBM, then MS-DOS for non-IBM computers, then Windows, and finally server software and ActiveDirectory. It took about twenty years to create, from the introduction of the IBM PC in 1981 to the introduction of ActiveDirectory in 1999.
That work was done by Microsoft because corporations wanted it. They wanted mechanisms to control the PCs and the access to data on PCs and servers. (And even with all of that interest, it took two decades to "enterprise-ify" PCs and make them part of the bureaucracy.)
Corporations were interested in PCs from the introduction of the IBM PC. (Some corporations were interested in earlier microcomputers, but they were a minority.) Corporations were interested in PCs because PCs ran Lotus 1-2-3, the popular spreadsheet at the time.
Now let's look at mobile devices. Corporations have a mild interest in mobile devices. It is only a fraction of the interest in PCs. There is no killer app for tablets, no must-have app for smart phones. (At least, not for corporations.) It is quite possible that phones and tablets are too personal for corporations.
It is telling that the Microsoft Surface tablet, with its ready-to-use connections to ActiveDirectory, has seen little interest. For consumers, the Surface (and other Windows tablets) are more expensive and not as useful as the iPad and Android tablets. But even corporations have little interest in the Microsoft offerings.
Without corporate interest (and corporate spending), neither Apple nor Google have incentive to make their tablets "safe for the enterprise" -- that is, controlled through a central administration point. (Yes, there are "mobile device management" packages, but they have little interest.)
Apple and Google will invest their efforts in other areas, such as better hardware and improved reliability of apps in their stores (and maybe higher profits).
Corporations will use tablets for small, isolated projects, if at all. I suspect most corporations view their proven and familiar desktops and laptops as sufficient, with little benefit from tablets.
But all is not lost for tablets and smart phones. Some folks will use them for critical business purposes. These folks will not be the large corporations with established IT infrastructure. They will be the start-ups, the small companies who will build completely new apps to solve completely new business problems.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Keeping our keyboards
Tablets are quite different from desktop PCs and laptop PCs. (Obviously.)
PCs have large displays, keyboards, mice, and wired network connections. They often have CD or DVD drives. Tablets, in contrast, have small displays, virtual keyboards, a touch screen (so no mice), no wired network connection, and media storage (if any) is limited to memory cards.
So we can view the transition from PC to tablet as a shift in peripherals. The "old school" PC used physical keyboards, mice, and disks; the "new school" tablets use touch screens, virtual keyboards, and no mice tor disks.
Except for one small detail.
Tablet users are using keyboards.
Not mice.
Not printers.
Keyboards.
I do understand that some people are using tablets with mice and printers. A small minority of people, but nowhere near the sizable number of people are using physical keyboards.
The appeal of keyboards is such that people continue to use them as an input device. They carry a keyboard with their tablet. They buy tablet covers that have built-in keyboards.
PCs have large displays, keyboards, mice, and wired network connections. They often have CD or DVD drives. Tablets, in contrast, have small displays, virtual keyboards, a touch screen (so no mice), no wired network connection, and media storage (if any) is limited to memory cards.
So we can view the transition from PC to tablet as a shift in peripherals. The "old school" PC used physical keyboards, mice, and disks; the "new school" tablets use touch screens, virtual keyboards, and no mice tor disks.
Except for one small detail.
Tablet users are using keyboards.
Not mice.
Not printers.
Keyboards.
I do understand that some people are using tablets with mice and printers. A small minority of people, but nowhere near the sizable number of people are using physical keyboards.
The appeal of keyboards is such that people continue to use them as an input device. They carry a keyboard with their tablet. They buy tablet covers that have built-in keyboards.
I think this tells us something about keyboards.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
The Apple Watch
Lots of folks have commented on the newly-announced Apple Watch. Many have praised the features. Some have criticized the design. Others have questioned the battery life.
Here's my take: the Apple Watch is not a watch. Yes, it will tell you the time, but it is more than that. The Apple Watch is it a "smartwatch". Yes it can present the time in lots of nifty formats (digital, retro analog, black-and-white, color) and it connects with Siri.
The Apple Watch is single product in a line of products that are designed to make things easy for people. Let's look at previous Apple products:
The iPod was more than a simple MP3 player. It was a system that made it easy to purchase and play music. There were plenty of MP3 players that only played music and left the acquisition of music to the user. The combination of iPod and iTunes (and the impressive collection available on iTunes) was the genius of the iPod.
The iPhone was more than a smart cell phone. It expanded iTunes to allow for the easy purchase and installation of apps. The ease of installation is often overlooked when it comes to the features of the iPhone. Remember, prior to the iPhone the standard model for installing applications was Microsoft's "Setup" or "MSI" packages, which often required special privileges and technical knowledge.
The iPad expanded the possibilities for apps. Apps for the iPhone were designed for the small screen. One could play music on an iPhone, but reading a book is much better on an iPad. One can use Twitter and Facebook on an iPhone, but documents and spreadsheets are much better on an iPad.
The trend has been for larger devices. The Apple Watch moves in the opposite direction, providing a smaller screen. The obvious conclusion is that one will not be using the Apple Watch for spreadsheets and documents. (Twitter may be okay, but I suspect that Facebook is not useful on the Apple Watch.) The less obvious conclusion is that the Apple Watch will be used for something else.
The question is: what will the Apple Watch make simpler for us, in such a way that Apple can profit from it?
A watch is more personal than a phone, more intimate, as it is physical contact with us. Sensors in the watch could be used for biometric information and possibly health information.
Apple has already announced plans for payment systems. We tend to keep the smaller devices with us more, carrying phones more frequently than tablets, so we will probably carry a watch with us more than a phone. Matching payments to a watch is good sense.
Initial enthusiasm for the Apple Watch may see a lot of people porting their apps to the phone. Some of that enthusiasm will be misplaced; the Watch will be good for some things but not everything from the iPhone -- and especially not everything from the iPad. There may be some new apps that are suitable to the Watch and not the phone or tablet -- probably games.
I think the Apple Watch has potential. I also think that it will be its own thing, not merely a small iPhone.
Here's my take: the Apple Watch is not a watch. Yes, it will tell you the time, but it is more than that. The Apple Watch is it a "smartwatch". Yes it can present the time in lots of nifty formats (digital, retro analog, black-and-white, color) and it connects with Siri.
The Apple Watch is single product in a line of products that are designed to make things easy for people. Let's look at previous Apple products:
The iPod was more than a simple MP3 player. It was a system that made it easy to purchase and play music. There were plenty of MP3 players that only played music and left the acquisition of music to the user. The combination of iPod and iTunes (and the impressive collection available on iTunes) was the genius of the iPod.
The iPhone was more than a smart cell phone. It expanded iTunes to allow for the easy purchase and installation of apps. The ease of installation is often overlooked when it comes to the features of the iPhone. Remember, prior to the iPhone the standard model for installing applications was Microsoft's "Setup" or "MSI" packages, which often required special privileges and technical knowledge.
The iPad expanded the possibilities for apps. Apps for the iPhone were designed for the small screen. One could play music on an iPhone, but reading a book is much better on an iPad. One can use Twitter and Facebook on an iPhone, but documents and spreadsheets are much better on an iPad.
The trend has been for larger devices. The Apple Watch moves in the opposite direction, providing a smaller screen. The obvious conclusion is that one will not be using the Apple Watch for spreadsheets and documents. (Twitter may be okay, but I suspect that Facebook is not useful on the Apple Watch.) The less obvious conclusion is that the Apple Watch will be used for something else.
The question is: what will the Apple Watch make simpler for us, in such a way that Apple can profit from it?
A watch is more personal than a phone, more intimate, as it is physical contact with us. Sensors in the watch could be used for biometric information and possibly health information.
Apple has already announced plans for payment systems. We tend to keep the smaller devices with us more, carrying phones more frequently than tablets, so we will probably carry a watch with us more than a phone. Matching payments to a watch is good sense.
Initial enthusiasm for the Apple Watch may see a lot of people porting their apps to the phone. Some of that enthusiasm will be misplaced; the Watch will be good for some things but not everything from the iPhone -- and especially not everything from the iPad. There may be some new apps that are suitable to the Watch and not the phone or tablet -- probably games.
I think the Apple Watch has potential. I also think that it will be its own thing, not merely a small iPhone.
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