LIKE 23 Information in the palm of your hand: the evolution of mobile information access
Comparing mobile devices is what you do when you meet someone now
argued Mark Needham. But the technology behind being able to do this:
microprocessors, the internet and wireless networking have been around
for 20 years, it's just taken some consolidation and growing public
demand for it to take shape. So the example used was steam power being
invented and then a delay before the first Ford Model T coming off the
production line and then consumer expectation being built on the back
of it. Further Mark predicted that the mobile devices we carry around
with us will be recognisable to future generations like the first car
and the modern hybrid car share common features. Librarians and
information managers are arguably strategic planners in an environment
built for horse and carriage but with people driving through it. Andrew Swaine from ARM (a company powering mobile devices via
microprocessor technology) commented that it's power consumption not
speed that is most in demand and that is shaping the programmes
written for mobile devices. These are consolidating times with cloud
computing and operating systems being developed to a backdrop of users
expecting to be able to use a single desktop environment. The
popularity of apps surprised the industry but Andrew predicted that
web apps will take off and hopefully solve some of the problems
associated with proprietary software and interoperability. Now when
something doesn't work and a user has a problem this is bug, a big
change from before when hardware was king: now user interaction is
much more important. So what are the challenges facing professionals of all stripes needing
a diverse range of information from doctors needing hospital records
to aid workers out in the field being able to communicate effectively
when conventional routes of communication are down? Problems included
ease of use 9size, lack of keyboard), geographic challenges and lack
of signal/bandwidth, privacy and legal issues and information
security.
Some things on the wish list for mobile technologies compiled by LIKE
attendees were:
-voice recognition
-secure connectivity
-currency/language applications
-single log in
argued Mark Needham. But the technology behind being able to do this:
microprocessors, the internet and wireless networking have been around
for 20 years, it's just taken some consolidation and growing public
demand for it to take shape. So the example used was steam power being
invented and then a delay before the first Ford Model T coming off the
production line and then consumer expectation being built on the back
of it. Further Mark predicted that the mobile devices we carry around
with us will be recognisable to future generations like the first car
and the modern hybrid car share common features. Librarians and
information managers are arguably strategic planners in an environment
built for horse and carriage but with people driving through it. Andrew Swaine from ARM (a company powering mobile devices via
microprocessor technology) commented that it's power consumption not
speed that is most in demand and that is shaping the programmes
written for mobile devices. These are consolidating times with cloud
computing and operating systems being developed to a backdrop of users
expecting to be able to use a single desktop environment. The
popularity of apps surprised the industry but Andrew predicted that
web apps will take off and hopefully solve some of the problems
associated with proprietary software and interoperability. Now when
something doesn't work and a user has a problem this is bug, a big
change from before when hardware was king: now user interaction is
much more important. So what are the challenges facing professionals of all stripes needing
a diverse range of information from doctors needing hospital records
to aid workers out in the field being able to communicate effectively
when conventional routes of communication are down? Problems included
ease of use 9size, lack of keyboard), geographic challenges and lack
of signal/bandwidth, privacy and legal issues and information
security.
Some things on the wish list for mobile technologies compiled by LIKE
attendees were:
-voice recognition
-secure connectivity
-currency/language applications
-single log in
