Famous Predictions: Unified Communications and a Few Other Gems
Everyone likes to predict things. It’s human nature. There are optimistic predictions and pessimistic predictions. Some come true; many do not. I thought it might be fun to look up some predictions. As a result of my Google search on “famous predictions,” (12,200,000 results) my prediction is that the volume of predictions will double in the next three years. You heard it here first. Anyway, this page provides a few gems:
"That rainbow song's no good. Take it out."
- MGM memo after first showing of "The Wizard Of Oz."
"There will never be a bigger plane built."
- A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that carried ten people.
"I think there's a world market for about five computers."
- Thomas J. Watson, chairman of the board of IBM.
The First Macintosh (1984) *Photo courtesy of www.smashinglists.com
And for the category of those that came true, there's this prediction Steve Jobs stated in a 1985 interview with Playboy:
“The most compelling reason for most people to buy a computer for the home will be to link it into a nationwide communications network. We’re just in the beginning stages of what will be a truly remarkable breakthrough for most people‐‑as remarkable as the telephone.”
*Photo courtesy of www.letmedefine.com
The science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke came up with three laws of predictions. My favorite is #3: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. So here are a few waves of the wand for unified communications and related services:
• Mobile cloud services will bring in $39 billion by 2016 due to the increase in unified communications spending.
• Forrester Research believes that communications equipment -- especially for unified communications, video conferencing, and mobility at businesses and governments -- will see 8.3% growth in 2011, though telecommunications carriers purchases will increase more slowly…
• Video growth is inseparable from unified communications growth, according to a Unified Communications Edge article, which also says, “Gartner is predicting that high-definition telepresence will be in homes of senior executives in half a decade.”
You heard these predictions here, but possibly not first. The UC crystal ball looks rosy, and I’m not wearing glasses.
So what are your favorite predictions? Do you have some of your own that you're waiting to see the outcome on?
