Monday, January 08, 2007

IT Isn't Dead; It Just Moved into My Living Room

Because I'm a devoted reader of Robert W. Anderson's Expert Texture, his post yesterday was where I first learned that Windows Home Server was announced.

Robert says he doesn't want one; I'm not so sure I won't want one sometime soon. Cindy and I would love all of our music, movies, plus the ability to videochat with relatives, right from the convenience of the Ultralounge.

In any case, this is a further of example of why I think Nick Carr is wrong on the server industry dying. Servers will never die. People will constantly be thinking of new and different uses for them.

Data centers will evolve; virtualization, consolidation, and grid technologies (along with steadily improving networking) will reshape the way we use computers and will reshape the way data centers look as well.

But make no mistake: people will always find new ways to use servers.

Updated 2007-01-09 9:04: Changed phrasing to make it clear that I'm not sure about whether I will want a media server (as opposed to not being sure about whether Robert wants a media server; I'm sure he wants one). Also added a picture of my living room (the one that was redecorated on Design Remix on HGTV), possible future home to my media server.

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