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Zeichick's Take: Information at my fingertips


By Alan Zeichick
June 29, 2009 — 
Bill Gates had a dream. Described at the huge computer-industry trade show, Comdex, in November 1990, his Information at Your Fingertips keynote speech seemed audacious and pure science fiction to this young technology journalist covering the event.

I’ve been searching for a transcript, but in vain. However, Gates’ speech came to mind while demonstrating my new iPhone 3GS to a smartphone-less friend. When challenged to explain value of the device beyond just being cool, my response slipped out: “It puts information at your fingertips.”

According to a 2005 retrospective on that speech by Adam Barr that I found on the Web, Gates laid out four possible scenarios for Information at Your Fingertips: desktop computers with integrated e-mail, voice recorder and document search; a mobile tablet computer for delivery drivers; home appliances with motion video; and a multimedia encyclopedia with audio and video clips.

Those don’t sound like science fiction any more. Desktop users have had access to all those things for quite a few years now.

In his keynote, according to Barr, “Gates then summarizes the five things needed: a more ‘personal’ personal computer; transparent application integration; integrated fax, voice and e-mail; company-wide networks without complexity; and easy access to a broad range of information. His goal is to ‘make the network an asset, not a liability.’ "

In 1990, everyone assumed that Gates’ more "personal" personal computer was a desktop computer. Desktop PCs were beginning to be networked in a significant way, even though there weren’t many services beyond file and print sharing to connect them to. At that time, laptops weren’t connected to anything, except by modem to CompuServe or a few other online services.

The growth of the Internet and the Web, and the emergence of services like Google, YouTube and Wikipedia, have brought Information at Your Fingertips to every personal computer. High-speed LANs and T1 lines brought it to the office and school; cable modems and DSL brought it to the home; and WiFi brought it to the notebook at Starbucks. But that was just Round 1.

Who would have imagined that the true Information at Your Fingertips device would be a cellular telephone? Whether it’s the iPhone, Windows Mobile, Android, Pre or BlackBerry, a 3G-empowered smartphone, with a fast processor, large high-resolution screen, standard browser, custom applications and day-long battery life, is what Bill Gates was talking about… even if he didn’t know it at the time.

Alan Zeichick is editorial director of SD Times. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/zeichick. Read his blog at ztrek.blogspot.com.


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