Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about what will be the next major platform. This is probably due to the recent surge of interest in the “cloud”, and the fact that most people apparently don’t fully understand what the cloud is. [1]

In short, the “cloud” is a more hip and newer way of saying “internet”.  The term “cloud” came about because the telephone companies switched from point to point data circuits to VPN in which traffic would be routed through a server or number of servers to make the connection.

So “cloud” is simply a fancy word for “internet”. Thusly, for all intents and purposes, any time a  computer or device is used to interact with the internet, it can be called “cloud computing”.

Mystery solved. Moving on…

There is a lot of debate over what’s next. You have smart phones, tablets, net pc’s, web-based apps, web-based operating systems, traditional pc’s with local storage and software, cross-compatible self-contained engines like java, flash, AIR,etc. and on and on it goes and everybody is wanting to know which of these will rise to dominate the way we communicate and work.

Well the next big thing won’t be revolutionary. It will be evolutionary. In fact, it’s already here.

The next big thing is all of it. This next major platform:

                    INTEGRATION

The next major platform is based on your information and what you do. Your contacts, schedule, calendar, music, videos, documents, even your games.

The next platform is all about providing you with everything everywhere. No matter where you are or what device, it’s your digital life.

The ONLY choice to make is which interface… Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Windows, etc.