You Gotta Keep Up

When changes come fast and furiously you need to keep up. You need to be able to change your ways quickly. When you took a turn in one direction a month or two ago you may need to make an even more radical turn soon again.

Taking stock, the last few weeks have shown us such new directions.

Windows 8.1 came out with an update which makes a simple but important change. That change makes Windows work like older Windows when started on a PC or laptop.

That makes it friendlier to use for older users who up to now have been insisting on Windows 7.

At about the same time, though,  a huge security exposure was found in Windows Internet Explorer. Not only that, but they couldn't get it fixed very quickly.

That underlines the big long-standing and continuing problem of Windows for unsuspecting and casual users.

Then, as Windows XP was being abandoned by Microsoft , it was announced that Linux Ubuntu will now be supported for years ahead , providing an alternative for businesses. The first Linux smartphone was announced.

In the meantime Microsoft came out with a version of, what do you know, Microsoft Office, for iPhones, of all things?

Office on iPhones? What an idea?

Not to be outdone, Google immediately issued apps to parallel Microsoft Office apps. These too, run on smartphones.

At the same time Microsoft closed the deal on the purchase of Nokia, a major world manufacture of smartphones.

Microsoft came out with a statement that were as heretofore PCs had been its major focus, now it was extending way beyond PCs.

A top Nokia executive stated that the market for smartphones was huge and that many users may never in the future need PCs at all.

What does all this mean?

I think it means we are turning the corner from PCs to smartphones as an alternative as opposed to a supplement and that a clear separation is occurring how we do things.

Will the pendulum ever swing back or do we need to learn how to do everything by smartphone?

Two months ago I would never have thought dictating a posting like this by smartphone as opposed to laptop or tablet and also publishing it by smartphone. I just turned that corner.