Panel Examines Past and Future of Business Technology

At PC Expo on Tuesday, VARBusiness technology editor David Strom and CRN editor/strategy Heather Clancy moderated "20 Year Milestone: Integrating Business and IT Yesterday and Tomorrow." Joining them on the panel were Larry Birenbaum, vice president and group general manager of the Ethernet access group at Cisco Systems; Dan Bricklin, founder and CTO of Trellix; Marilyn Edling, vice president and general manager of enterprise systems and business customer organization at Hewlett-Packard; David Nagel, president and CEO of PalmSource; and Chris Stone, vice chairman, office of the CEO at Novell.

The panel kicked off with a discussion of favorite computers. Several on the panel were looking forward to the next big thing, though there were some fond memories of the Lisa and DGI-the first "real" laptop.

The tablet PC has of late been widely touted as filling the spot of "next big thing," and the conversation quickly led there.

"I think it is absolutely a happening thing," Birenbaum said.

Bricklin said the form factor is what makes it so appealing, pointing out that typing on a laptop keyboard while walking is not a user-friendly option.

Stone said he sees tablet PCs as being very useful in vertical markets, but as far as Novell is concerned, "it is just another device to manage and support and so we're happy about that."

While the tablet PC is attractive to many for its portability, the number of devices wired professionals juggle is quickly increasing, as is the call for convergence. Stone said he carries a laptop, cell phone, Palm m505, and RIM. While he said a single device would be helpful, he feels "there's always something missing, some feature that's left out."

Edling does not see convergence as a viable option until standardization is in place.

"Basic, fundamental things need to be fixed, like cell phone service in this country" she said. "The industry is not holding us back, the government is."

Some final wishes from the panel for technologies to come in the next 20 years include phones with better screens, preferably melding touch-panel GUI and voice recognition, and mobile printing.

"I'd like to be at a hotel and have the network realize there's a Kinko's down the street and print my presentation to there," Stone said.