Monday, January 30, 2012

"Duck Sucker"

When I attended an ITIL class in 2008, I heard a term that perked my interest.  Initially I thought, can ITIL terminology really be unique and "cliche"?  Can "duck sucker" be a french word to describe complex IT service management?  I was brought back to reality like the "lego man" holding a Canadian flag.  The instructor described the term when someone throws a problem or issue over his or her cube and shouts out "Duck! Sucker." This term came to my mind after I read the Gartner paper called, " JavaScript: Past, Present and Future." According to the sharply dressed folks at Gartner, JavaScript is here to stay.  Therefore please don't complain that you cannot debug JavaScript properly or you are tired of your friendly neighborhood, Mr. Alert() function.  The reality is that with more JavaScript routines designed to detect your web browser enable this technology to stay. With web browser developers incorporate more JavaScript rendering capability and computing hardware getting faster and cheaper, it seems it is the right thing to do.  With Verizon and AT&T charging for data plans,  browser based apps will need to cache more information on the device rather than in the "cloud".  Frankly the way OMB and Google are promoting the cloud, it sounds like heaven because everyone will be happy using the cloud.   Folks get used to the word "Duck sucker" because the application developers will try to access devices through the device browser JavaScript calls and the device manufactures are going to build more powerful, smaller and expensive devices.   In the end, you and I, the general consumers, may have to duck those big bills.  There is a cost for a great user experience which is driven by the cloud.  So who is the real sucker in the mobile world? You and I are. :-(