Radical Simplicity: Transforming Computers Into Me-Centric Appliances

Introduction

	It’s hard to make predictions—especially about the future.
	--Robert Storm Petersen

Disruptive New Technology

Until recently, the growth of computer usage was driven primarily by our need to easily work with numbers and text. Computers in the backroom were invisible to us. Computers on our desks and laps were powerful business tools, making us prolific tool users.

Initially, this meant our days included extra work that either wasn’t necessary before computers or was done by assistants, graphic artists, and typesetters, among others. The computing trend became to use more tools more of the time, to process more information. Productivity gains were modest initially, but probably reached diminishing returns some time ago.

The world is about ...