Technology on the march!

For a long time, the tech industry kept to itself -- only defining what it means to process data and program computers.

By the end of the 80s, things had changed. Laser printers and desktop publishing software, at first just toys -- were all of a sudden able to replace expensive typesetting equipment at a fraction of the cost. All of a sudden publishing was open to people with a lot less money.

Movies were being redefined by Pixar and other animation studios.

Then, in the mid-90s, came the web, and publishing became almost free.

Starting in the late 90s it was time for tech to redefine what it means to be a musician, with Napster and then iTunes.

We took our first step at redefining news with RSS, also in the late 90s.

Publishing was free by the mid-90s but it wasn't easy until blogging software matured.

By the mid part of the next decade we were ready to redefine radio, with podcasting.

BitTorrent is redefining the distribution of movies.

And now, finally -- it seems -- tech is ready to fully redefine news.

What it will look like is still up for grabs. But the time is now. Just look around.

 2/19/2011; 7:11:08 PM.   .

With all the development work I do here around Amazon's web services, I've been negligent in spreading the love for Rackspace.

I have a server in their cloud, which they've kindly provided at no charge, as a sandbox for me to play in. I've done more than play there. It's been a workhorse, tying together a small community of developers and users that I'm working with. It's absolutely trouble-free, which is why you don't hear a whole lot about it. That's a mistake.

I totally don't mind being influenced by service providers who give me access to their services at no charge. I will always tell you when I have been influenced in this way, but it's kind of a pain to have to pay for everything I review. It gets expensive!

Another thing I like about Rackspace is that they humor me when I have a strong opinion about products they should offer. I realize they're a big company and it's hard to get mobilized around a single idea, the way I, as an individual, can. But one of these days we will make a great product together, because our philosophies are a good match.

Anyway thanks to Rackspace. You guys are great.

 2/19/2011; 3:44:26 PM.   .