IT Complexity Boom

We've been through the Dot Com Boom/Bust - now we're in the Complexity Boom. Technology is just too hard to use today and it keeps getting harder.

Applications and operating systems keep getting larger and more complicated, adding seemingly endless features and functionality that only a small percentage of people ever figure out, use, or need. This complexity leads to large complicated software that is harder to use.

There is no reason why technology can’t be easy to use, while still having plenty of functionality! The emphasis in software has been in adding these “gee-whiz” features instead of improving usability. There is a lot of work to be done in integrating technology into our lives and making it easier to use, if not entirely transparent, in the next couple of decades and perhaps well beyond.

For those of you who are non-technical, these damn computer things are not only going to get easier to use, they’re going to become transparent. Why should most people care if a computer is involved when they are performing some task? The emphasis should be on the results, not on the underlying technical details. Who thinks about how internal combustion engines work when driving from point A to point B? How many people think about how their TV works?

For technical workers, for example IT staff and software engineers, the focus will be more on ease of use and integration of technology, than on the current "invent cool things." Most technology jobs themselves will be integrated into other fields and disciplines, although there will be plenty of purely technology based work available.