3/01 - CeBIT 2001 - "• It’s not about the Net in your pocket; it’s about context-specific services proactively delivered to you. • It’s not about wireless only; but wired and wireless appliances connecting and collaborating to deliver e-services. • It doesn’t require creating a new network; it’s about leveraging the open architecture of the Net to make e-services available in any environment. • It’s not about smart everything; but about appliances and things being smart enough to deliver what you need." 3/21/01 - Hannover - (WhatTheyThink) Carly Fiorina kicked off CeBIT with a presentation of HP's vision of the future. She spoke about a technology shift that must happen in order for the wireless, connected world to develop. The CEO said that cool gadgets and applications do not matter as much as servicing the end user. Fiorina said that true services-based computing requires capabilities and technologies beyond today's computing model. Fiorina thinks services will be working in the background so that technology becomes invisible. "As the user moves from one environment to another…the mobile devices becomes aware of what services are available…and delivers them in a format appropriate for the capabilities of that device." We have pulled many of the highlights from her speech. CeBIT, Carly Fiorina - Chairman, CEO and President of HP In order to move beyond independent, piece-part thinking…beyond "wireless" and "gadgets"…in order to deliver a truly valuable experience for "life lived in motion"…we need to stop thinking about the world of mobility one element at a time … and shift our thinking to consider the entire ecosystem around mobility… starting first and foremost by putting the user’s needs first. We need to really dig in and understand what mobile culture is all about. • We’ve learned that no matter where you are in the world, mobile e-services must be more convenient than their real-world equivalents if they are going to be truly useful: more convenient than driving down to the bank…more effective than carrying a separate datebook. Mobile services have to become second nature—they must naturally weave themselves into the fabric of our daily lives—like buying train tickets or checking flight schedules. • Meanwhile, the mobile appliance market changes daily. We’re in an evolutionary period, where genetic hybrids and genetic anomalies are producing whole new species in appliances. In this experimentation phase, companies are trying to get form vs. function exactly right. They’re defining the set of features people will need and use. And they’re having trouble finding the right formula. -------- • In our research we found huge discrepancies between consumer desires and technical realities, in information appliances: • Consumers want them to be very small … and yet they must also be highly functional • They must be fashionable, and customizable • They must be easy to use…and yet they must also be crammed with features • They must be ultra-powerful… and yet they must have a long battery life In the course of our research, one of the biggest opportunities that we see for mobile information appliances involves capitalizing on the "blur." Think of the "blur" as the rapid blending of our personal and professional lives. Mobile technology is having a profound shift on how we live and work. Yes, mobile technology allows us to work more efficiently and flexibly…but it’s also forcing us to deal with the balance and the burden of feeling constantly available, constantly connected. It is extremely important for us to recognize and address these kinds of issues in order to build this marketplace. -------- • Every device in that environment can become a resource or a service to anything else in the environment by connecting to an open standards-based, always-on Internet infrastructure to access e-services. Imagine being able to see the real-time ETA of your bus, or a user interface for every light switch, temperature control panel, or piece of AV equipment in a conference room…all on your PDA. Imagine that the whole model of computing focuses on how, and what, and where, and when services get delivered. • At HP we've created the technology to enable these types of interactions, and we're working with partners to bring them to life now—not some time in the future next year. • At the heart of all this capability is our suite of CoolTown technologies. CoolTown is a vision of the world where everyone and everything is connected to the Web through wired or wireless links. It's a world where humans are mobile, appliances are connected, services are everywhere and everything has a Web page…It’s service-centric computing in action. If you want to see it, we have some demos out on the showfloor for you. The CoolTown architecture is built on open Net standards, and includes Web and application servers for even the tiniest embedded systems… software that allows appliances to connect simply and quickly in spontaneous interaction…and a dynamic framework for creating location-aware, context-aware applications. Our CoolTown software is the underlying fabric that will enable an exciting new way of delivering mobile services.