AMR Research. When machines across the Net do most of the heavy lifting, we can use devices that are smaller, cheaper, and more portable than laptops or desktops, without sacrificing computing power. Early examples of such devices include Apple's iPhone and Amazon's Kindle.
"What I find interesting about Amazon's Kindle is that by bundling in Sprint's high-speed Internet access, it's not so much a book reader as it is the front end to a store," says Yarmis. "Access to content is a fundamental part of its design."
Disruption: For enterprises, cloud computing provides the benefits of a data center without the cost and hassle of maintaining one. For consumers, it offers the promise of cheaper, simpler devices that let them access their data and their applications from anywhere.
3. Broadband + Wireless Networks
Remember 1998? It was the middle of the dot-com boom, yet most folks were still waiting...waiting...waiting for Web pages to load. Fewer than 1 percent of U.S. households [PDF] enjoyed a broadband connection then, according to AT&T. The sluggishness of users' connections was matched only by the leisurely pace at which telecom and cable companies went about creating broadband infrastructure.
Fast-forward ten years. Some 55 percent of households in the United States now boast a broadband connection, according to Parks Associates, allowing for rich media, video, and audio to dominate the Internet.
But a $40 to $60 broadband connection really became economically feasible when users could spread the cost of one connection across multiple home computers through Wi-Fi. Later this year a raft of products using the superfast final 802.11n spec will make Wi-Fi viable for sharing video and audio around the home as well. ABI Research predicts that nearly 250 million Wi-Fi-enabled devices will be shipped annually by 2011.
Disruption: Broadband has created an explosion of video and music Web sites and VoIP services, while Wi-Fi is bringing the Net to everyday household appliances such as stereos, TVs, and home control systems. Together, they're making the connected home a reality.
2. The Web + The Graphical Browser
In a word, duh. The fact that you're reading this online right now may be proof enough of how disruptive the Web has been. Before 1993, however, the Internet as we think of it today was a loose collection of protocols, networks, and tools built by university geeks. The introduction of the World Wide Web in 1991 gave people a way to connect information online, but it was still just another (albeit critical) piece in the puzzle.
The graphical browser, invented in 1993 by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina at the University of Illinois at Champagne Urbana, gave the Web wings, ultimately turning it into a delivery vehicle for just about everything.
"[The graphical browser] has changed virtually every aspect of the economy and created an entirely new class of major global corporations that did not exist prior to then," says Richard Landry, a new-media consultant and former editor in chief of PC World.
According to a recent poll by We Media and Zogby Interactive, nearly half of Americans now get their news from the Internet. The writing is on the wall--or rather, the Web.
Disruption: Media firms, publishing companies, and advertisers now think Web first, and broadcast or print second.
1. Cell Phones + Wireless Internet Access
Cell phones have changed the way we communicate, blurring the lines separating work, play, and the commute between the two. Wireless e-mail, messaging, and Web access will change communications even more.
Data, not voice, is driving this disruption. The biggest news from Apple's recent announcement of its iPhone software development kit was the addition of an Exchange mail applet that lets business users access their work e-mail from their Apple handsets.
"New Internet-friendly cell phones such as the iPhone and G-Phone [phones built on Google's upcoming Android operating system] will lower the entry barrier for mobile Internet services, improve mobile Internet experiences, and introduce new business models," says Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst for Parks Associates.
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