This fact was true in the past, and I think it will be true for computers in the future. No matter how important computers have been for individual productivity up to this point, they will be orders of magnitude more important as network devices. Click here . In 20 years, when we look back on the progress software has made, the first thing to jump out at us will be the social impact of computing networks , rather than the marvels of improved scale and intensified complexity of individual computers. Sure, we'll use display devices as we do paper or clothing or structural elements in buildings and furniture today, but again, these devices will be of little value without their network connections.
Contemporary automobiles are harbingers of the networked world to come.
Tiny gizmos, tethered together as elements of a shared physical space using diverse integration techniques, band together to create a collection of cooperating, but autonomous, computing devices. These devices use sensors, microphones, mechanical controls, smart ignition keys, smartcards, and antennae to gather observations about the physical world. They control CD and hard-drive spindles, audio speakers, GPS units, fuel injectors, braking systems, and even more traditional devices such as LCDs. In light of this integrated network, consider this assertion about storage capacities made by Microsoft's Jim Gray. We know that storage devices will continue to shrink in size, while expanding their capacity to hold information using cheap, tiny terabytes of space.