Computer trends 2019

Here are some ICT trends for year 2019 picked from various sources (linked to sources) and edited by me:

General: From AI to Moore’s Law, the entire industry is deep in the throes of massive changes. The future will be characterized by smart devices delivering increasingly insightful digital services everywhere. While CPUs continue to evolve, performance is no longer limited to a single processor type or process geometry.

Business: There seems to be a clear evidence from this research that businesses are adopting and looking to capitalise on the benefits of Big Data, the Internet Of Things and Sensor technology for their mobile workforces.

Open source: 2019 Will Be the Year of Open Source in software and even in hardware. We saw more activity in open source than ever before in 2018. And the momentum isn’t likely to slow down in 2019.

Web is mobile: According to the statistics of FICORA, Ofcom, the PC has lost its place as the first device and platform for web browsing. Almost half of the web browses the web with a smart phone, which places a requirement on all online services from shops to news sites.

Multiple devices: As the number of different IT devices continues to grow, there are more and more devices in use at the same time.
 Situations and tasks that utilize and use multiple devices together have become commonplace. We need to think how how user interfaces could better support multi-device sharing.

Artificial intelligence: It seems that AI Market Ramps Everywhere. The AI term creates hope for some, fear for others, and confusion for all. Artificial intelligence (AI) is what the Internet of Things was two years ago – overhyped and not very well understood. The obvious shift is the infusion of AI (and its subcategories, machine learning and deep learning) into different markets. It seems that you don’t need to be artificial intelligence wizard anymore to use some AI – at best, implementation can be picked up by GitHub without really understanding anything. AI Still Has Trust Issues for many. There are also views that now hot artificial intelligence is the bubble that broke out last in the 1990s because at present, artificial intelligence and man form a bad cyborg. You need to separate AI Hype From Reality because it seems to be a miraculous thing where almost nobody knows what it is.

AI chips: While GPUs are well-positioned in machine learning, data type flexibility and power efficiency are making FPGAs increasingly attractive. Today, selling custom chips for artificial intelligence is still a small business. Intel, the largest manufacturer of computer processors, has appraised the current market at $2.5 billion, one half of one percent of the estimated value of the 2018 global semiconductor market. At a press event at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show, Intel announced the Nervana Neural Network Processor (NNP-I), an AI chip for inference-based workloads that fits into a GPU-like form factor. Google and NXP advance artificial intelligence with the Edge TPU.

AI-driven development: AI-driven development looks at tools, technologies and best practices for embedding AI into applications and using AI to create AI-powered tools for the development process.

Huge data: It seems that It’s All About The Data. Data creation, management and processing always have been a winning business formula. It takes lots of data to train AI systems and IoT systems generate a lot of data.Data scientists now have increasing amounts of data to prepare, analyze and group — and from which to draw conclusions. The entire tech industry has changed in several fundamental ways over the past year due to the massive growth in data. Many data science tasks will be automated. Hardware and software are no longer the starting points for technology design. It’s now about data processing, flow and throughput.

Digital twins: A digital twin is a digital representation that mirrors a real-life object, process or system. Digital twins can also be linked to create twins of larger systems, such as a power plant or city. The idea of a digital twin is not new but is has become hot when AI and IoT were added to the mix.

Edge computing: Edge computing is a topology where information processing and content collection and delivery are placed closer to the sources of the information, with the idea that keeping traffic local will reduce latency. Currently, much of the focus of this technology is a result of the need for IoT systems to deliver disconnected or distributed capabilities into the embedded IoT world.

Power consumption: Globally, ICT today consumes 8% of all electricity and doubles every year. I think we needs new semiconductor technologies and maybe also more optimized software that does more but consumes less power.

Memories: DRAM market growth stops in 2019. GDDR6 and HBM2 impacts system design. There is disparity between the different types of DRAM, from GDDR to HBM.

Faster storage: Apacer has CFexpress card, which supports PCIe and the new NVMe 1.3 protocol, transfers data at a rate of two gigabytes per second.

Heterogeneous architectures: Need for increased computing power requires new multi-processor architectures (hybrid processors). Heterogeneous design is changing the starting point for chip design so that integration is now more the real challenge rather than the processor core. Many ARM processors already use hybrid architecture. Intel has unveiled a new Foveros architecture that addresses the challenge of Arm processors.

Immersive technologies: Users can interact with the world with immersive technologies such as augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR). AR brings new possibilities. A smart space is a physical or digital environment in which humans and technology-enabled systems interact in increasingly open, connected, coordinated and intelligent ecosystems.

Open hardware: Can RISC-V – Linux of Microprocessors – Start an Open Hardware Renaissance? RISC-V is an open source processor command set that can be used with the same principles as Linux code. RISCV is now being firmly linked to Linux as the Linux Foundation and the RISC-V Foundation have agreed to work together to promote open code development and RISC-V deployment. For the first time, Arm architecture will be a serious challenger in millions, even billions of embedded devices. Companies like Hi-Five, NVIDIA and WDplan to release product with RISC-V in them. This year RISC-V does not compete with traditional CPUs on PCs. Also MIPS hardware architecture is opening up.

Containers: Is Kubernetes the new application server? If you thought there was a lot of chatter about Kubernetes in 2018, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Software robotics: Software robotics becomes widely available. Robot Framework will be important on this.

Intel processors: Intel Announces Faster Processors Patched for Meltdown and Spectre, New Intel Architectures and Technologies Target Expanded Market Opportunities. Intel Demonstrates 10nm-based PCs, Data Center and Networking Systems, Next-Gen ‘Sunny Cove’ Architecture with AI and Crypto Acceleration, and 3D Logic Chip Packaging Technology. 5 Observations From Intel’s Event article says that mysterious locations, codenames and process delays are on the top of the list. Intel’s Foveros Lakefield technology for making smaller chips.

AMD processors: Ryzen mobile processors would begin showing up in ultrathin and gaming laptops by the end of the first quarterAMD starts to use 7nm technology: Radeon VII GPU will be available and it is promised to be 27% to 62% faster, third-generation Ryzen desktop processor and second-generation EPYC server processor will be available starting later this year. AMD is challenging Intel in Chromebooks with A-Series CPUs and launching Ryzen Mobile 3000-Series chips with 2nd-generation Ryzen Mobile parts.

ARM processors: Taking aim at Intel, Qualcomm launches chip for business PCs. The Snapdragon 8cx series is Qualcomm’s first chip specifically designed for computersQualcomm’s pitch is that laptops using its chips will go days without needing to be plugged in, and will always be connected to the internet via cellular networks. The Snapdragon 8cx is also the world’s first 7-nanometer PC processor platform and promises superior performance for laptop. Intel’s position on laptops is very strong and Qualcomm has a big hill to get up if it really wants to challenge Intel’s PC side. Huawei Rolls 7nm ARM Server CPU Kunpeng 920 that is said to outperform ThunderX2, Ampere by 25%. Rumors are circulating that Apple will obsolete x86-based computers in favor of its own SoC-powered successors.

NVIDIA: RTX 2060 GPU was introduced. GeForce RTX™ graphics cards are powered by the Turing GPU architecture and the all-new RTX platform. This promises to give you up to 6X the performance of previous-generation graphics cards and brings the power of real-time ray tracing and AI to your favorite games. GeForce RTX 20 Series GPUs to gaming laptops.

Microsoft hardware: Microsoft reportedly working on Xbox and Windows webcams for 2019.

Windows security: Microsoft officially announces ‘Windows Sandbox’ for running applications in isolation.Microsoft’s coming ‘Windows Sandbox’ feature is a lightweight virtual machine that allow users to run potentially suspicious software in isolation. It could debut in Windows 10 19H1,

Storage: NVMe Hits a Tipping Point. A show dedicated to NVM Express (NVMe) next month solidifies an industry-wide sentiment that the host controller interface and storage protocol hit a tipping point in the last year. It is expected that we’re going to see the majority of new products coming out with NVMe. There are already relatively young NVM Express Over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) specification and even some hard disk enclosures using NVMe.

Fibre channel: Broadcom Nudges Fibre Channel to 64G using 64G optical modules (just starting to sample) and PCIe Gen 4 connections that are not yet generally available on x86 servers.

Faster PCIe:PCIe 4.0 is ready. The PCISIG organization has completed the new 4.0 version of the PCIe bus, and now the technology is expected to be deployed on the devices. It is possible to to get the full PCIe 4.0 speed with both copper and fiber. It seems that this year PCIe 4.0 comes to wider us for x86 servers.

FPGA: FPGA Graduates To First-Tier Status because FPGAs are better for certain types of computation than CPUs or GPUs.While GPUs are well-positioned in machine learning, data type flexibility and power efficiency are making FPGAs increasingly attractive.

Enterprise software:Legacy enterprise applications and software systems have a reputation for being clunky, expensive, and almost impossible to keep up to date. Rethink your enterprise software systems and consider whether cloud-based options like SaaS may better serve your needs. Office 365 is massively successful. AWS services are running the backend of thousands of major companies now. As internet connections and speeds increase, the cloud becomes more and more viable as it is more cost effective to centralize computer hardware reducing costs for companies and employee overhead.

Windows 10: Microsoft is building a Chromium-powered web browser that will replace Edge on Windows 10. Microsoft could be preparing to ditch the EdgeHTML layout engine of its unloved Edge browser in Windows 10 in favour of Chromium. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is improved. Microsoft new Windows 10 reserves ~7GB of disk space for updates, apps, and more to ensure critical OS functions always have space.

Light Windows: Microsoft is working on Windows Lite, a super lightweight, instant on, always connected OS that runs only PWAs and UWP apps, to challenge Chrome OS. Microsoft’s ‘Centaurus’ device is yet another potential piece of its Chromebook-compete strategy.

Coding for Windows: Microsoft has released a public preview of Visual Studio 2019 for Windows and Mac. Microsoft open sources its most popular Windows UX frameworks and says the first preview of .NET Core 3.0 is now available — Microsoft is open sourcing WPF, Windows Forms and Win UI via GitHub.

Quantum computing: Quantum computing is a type of nonclassical computing that is based on the quantum state of subatomic particles that represent information as elements denoted as quantum bits or “qubits.” Quantum computers are an exponentially scalable and highly parallel computing model. They can work well on some specific tasks suitable for them, but are not suitable for most generic computing tasks we are used to.

Blockchain: Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger, an expanding chronologically ordered list of cryptographically signed, irrevocable transactional records shared by all participants in a network. It can work with untrusted parties without the need for a centralized party (i.e., a bank). Businesses should begin evaluating the technology to see if it fits their business or not. You need to separate Blockchain hype from Reality because it seems to be a potentially miraculous thing where almost nobody knows exactly what it is to what it is good for. Check this related Dilbert comic.

Related predictions and trends articles:

Gartner Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2019

Virtual reality implementation: observations and predictions

5 IT job trends to watch in 2019 – because success starts with talent
Digital transformation reality check: 10 trends

These are the 15 best US tech companies to work for in 2019, according to Glassdoor

Kubernetes in 2019: 6 developments to expect

What to expect from CES 2019

786 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    C# .NET Core versus Java fastest programs
    vs C++
    vs F# .NET Core
    vs Java
    https://benchmarksgame-team.pages.debian.net/benchmarksgame/faster/csharp.html

    Reply
  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Computer Scientists Expand the Frontier of Verifiable Knowledge
    By
    KEVIN HARTNETT
    May 23, 2019
    https://www.quantamagazine.org/computer-scientists-expand-the-frontier-of-verifiable-knowledge-20190523/

    The universe of problems that a computer can check has grown. The researchers’ secret ingredient? Quantum entanglement.

    Reply
  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    How to write a good C main function
    https://opensource.com/article/19/5/how-write-good-c-main-function

    Learn how to structure a C file and write a C main function that handles command line arguments like a champ.

    Reply
  4. Tomi Engdahl says:

    An abstraction called text styles – How to save yourself from a typographic mess
    https://www.reaktor.com/blog/an-abstraction-called-text-styles/

    Styling text tends to be quite verbose in CSS, and it’s been a common practice to tie styles to components for the longest time. Eventually, I tired of being slowed down by typographic styles, and started cooking up an idea about abstracting the styling of text out of the components.

    Reply
  5. Tomi Engdahl says:

    The Future of Monitoring (1/2): We Won’t Care About Infrastructure Anymore
    https://blog.paessler.com/the-future-of-monitoring-we-wont-care-about-infrastructure-anymore

    Reply
  6. Tomi Engdahl says:

    8 ways your company can support and sustain open source
    https://opensource.com/article/19/4/ways-support-sustain-open-source

    To make sure open source continues to thrive, we all need to find ways to sustain the communities and projects we depend on.

    Reply
  7. Tomi Engdahl says:

    9 open source tools for building a fault-tolerant system
    https://opensource.com/article/19/3/tools-fault-tolerant-system

    Maximize uptime and minimize problems with these open source tools.

    Reply
  8. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Why startups should release their code as open source
    https://opensource.com/article/19/5/startups-release-code

    Dokit wondered whether giving away its knowledge as open source was a bad business decision, but that choice has been the foundation of its success.

    Reply
  9. Tomi Engdahl says:

    How to Use Your Phone as a Wi-Fi Mouse
    Who needs a Swiss Army Knife when you have a smartphone?
    https://www.lifewire.com/use-phone-as-a-mouse-4154687

    Reply
  10. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Microsoft unveils Windows Terminal, a new command line app for Windows
    For developers, developers, developers
    https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/6/18527870/microsoft-windows-terminal-command-line-tool

    Reply
  11. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Principles of container-based application design
    https://www.redhat.com/en/resources/cloud-native-container-design-whitepaper

    PRINCIPLES OF SOFTWARE DESIGN:
    Keep it simple, stupid (KISS)
    Don’t repeat yourself (DRY)
    You aren’t gonna need it (YAGNI)
    Separation of concerns (SoC)
    RED HAT APPROACH TO CLOUD-NATIVE CONTAINERS:
    Single concern principle (SCP)
    High observability principle (HOP)
    Life-cycle conformance principle (LCP)
    Image immutability principle (IIP)
    Process disposability principle (PDP)
    Self-containment principle (S-CP)
    Runtime confinement principle (RCP)

    Reply
  12. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Querying 10 years of GitHub data with GHTorrent and Libraries.io
    https://opensource.com/article/19/5/chaossearch-github-ghtorrent

    There is a way to explore GitHub data without any local infrastructure using open source datasets.

    Reply
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  15. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Rani Molla / Vox:
    Mary Meeker releases her 333-page Internet Trends 2019 report showing growing e-commerce, expanded US ad spending, rising number of gamers, 51% of world online — Here are all the slides, plus analysis. — It’s the holiday season for data nerds: That is, Mary Meeker is delivering …

    Mary Meeker’s most important trends on the internet
    Here are all the slides, plus analysis.
    https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/6/11/18651010/mary-meeker-internet-trends-report-slides-2019

    Reply
  16. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Ian Cutress / AnandTech:
    AMD announces the Ryzen 9 3950X, its first 16-core CPU in the Ryzen 9 family, with a 3.5GHz base frequency, coming in September for $749 — One of the questions that was left over from AMD’s Computex reveal of the new Ryzen 3000 family was why a 16-core version of the dual-chiplet Matisse design was not announced.
    https://www.anandtech.com/show/14516/amd-16-core-ryzen-9-3950x-up-to-4-7-ghz-105w-coming-september

    Reply
  17. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
    Opera launches Opera GX, the world’s first gaming-focused browser, with a built-in system to limit the browser’s CPU and RAM usage, so other apps run unhindered

    Opera launches Opera GX, world’s first gaming browser
    Opera GX released in early access; currently only available for Windows users.
    https://www.zdnet.com/article/opera-launches-opera-gx-worlds-first-gaming-browser/

    Today, Opera Software, the company behind the Opera browser, launched a custom version of its browser dedicated to online gamers and streamers.

    Named Opera GX, the browser comes with dedicated features that let users limit the browser’s access to computer resources such as CPU (processor) and RAM (memory).

    The idea is to provide gamers with a way to navigate the web while leaving resources available for games or streaming applications that the gamer might also be running at the same time.

    “Before Opera GX, gamers often shut down their browsers to not slow down their gaming experience.”

    Reply
  18. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Why use GraphQL?
    https://opensource.com/article/19/6/why-use-graphql

    Here’s why GraphQL is gaining ground on standard REST API technology.

    GraphQL is a next-generation API technology that is transforming both how client applications communicate with backend systems and how backend systems are designed.

    What is GraphQL?
    https://opensource.com/article/19/6/what-is-graphql

    GraphQL is a query language, an execution engine, and a specification, and it’s leading developers to rethink how they build client and API applications.

    Reply
  19. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Teaching algorithmic ethics requires an open approach
    https://opensource.com/open-organization/19/6/future-ethical-tech-edu-open

    Developing socially responsible approaches to artificial intelligence requires transparent and inclusive education about algorithmic systems.

    Reply
  20. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Nick Statt / The Verge:
    Hands-on with Microsoft’s xCloud and Google Stadia: they both work and they’re both impressive, but they have different aims, so they are hard to compare

    Microsoft’s xCloud can’t and shouldn’t be compared with Google Stadia right now
    https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/13/18677970/microsoft-xcloud-google-stadia-cloud-gaming-hands-on-e3-2019

    xCloud and Stadia are at vastly different stages of development, and aren’t even directly competing right now

    Cloud gaming is the undeniably industry-altering shadow looming over this year’s E3 video game conference. Paired with the rise of subscription services, the idea of running games from remote servers could not only change how they’re are played, distributed and sold, but even how games are developed, thanks to the promise of running software off the equivalent of multiple consoles strung together.

    The two frontrunners in the race are Google and Microsoft, two of the tech industry’s most powerful companies and two of the largest players in the existing cloud computing market. Both have the infrastructure, the expertise, and the resources to get cloud gaming off the ground, and we’re seeing that right now as Microsoft’s xCloud and Google Stadia transition from fledgling prototypes into full-blown products.

    Reply
  21. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Google says it’s not making any more tablets
    https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/20/google-says-its-not-making-any-more-tablets/

    “For Google’s first-party hardware efforts, we’ll be focusing on Chrome OS laptops and will continue to support Pixel Slate,” the company said in statement

    Reply
  22. Tomi Engdahl says:

    You can’t buy DevOps
    But plenty of people are happy to sell it to you. Here’s why it’s not for sale.
    https://opensource.com/article/19/6/you-cant-buy-devops

    Some of the assessments provided real value, linking me back to articles on culture and methodologies, while others merely offered me a tool promising to bring all my DevOps dreams into reality.

    Tools are absolutely essential to the DevOps journey; for instance, tools can continuously deliver, automate, or monitor your environment. However, DevOps is not a product, and tools alone will not enable the processes necessary to realize the full value of DevOps.

    Reply
  23. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Digital Transformation Still Has a Long Way To Go
    https://blog.paessler.com/digital-transformation-still-has-a-long-way-to-go

    Digital transformation is the changes associated with digital technology application and integration into all aspects of human life and society. It is the move from the physical to digital.

    But digital transformation is not just the conversion of analogue to digital; it’s also the changing of business and organizational processes within organizations, industries, and markets to accommodate technological changes. In modern terms, digital transformation also includes improving productivity through improving the mobility of resources and implementation of Artificial Intelligence in processes.

    According to the study, back in 2016, the USA was operating at 18% of its digital potential.

    If you don’t think that sounds so impressive, consider the European region, which as a whole was operating at 12% of its digital potential. Drilling down even deeper: France was at 12%, UK at 17%, and Germany at a paltry 10 percent.

    The Challenges of Transformation
    One of the most surprising things about the low rates of digitization is that digital transformation has been proven to increase revenue. This can be seen in the same IDG report quoted above: 32% of IT decision-makers said that digitization has already helped them achieve revenue growth. If this is the case, why isn’t transformation happening more intensively?

    Well, the challenges are not insignificant. Probably the most dramatic is that digital transformation often requires a cultural shift

    Reply
  24. Tomi Engdahl says:

    5 Thoughts on Digital Minimalism
    https://blog.paessler.com/5-thoughts-on-digital-minimalism

    concept of digital minimalism and developed 5 thoughts that I would like to present.

    1. Know the Platforms You Are Registered On
    2. Reduce Your Technical Equipment
    3. Maintain a Logical Folder Structure
    4. Control the Media You Consume
    5. Understand That Digital Minimalism Exists in Different Forms

    Reply
  25. Tomi Engdahl says:

    7 valuable programming languages for sysadmins in 2019
    https://www.redhat.com/sysadmin/sysadmin-programming-languages

    For the code-driven sysadmin, learning these programming languages could enhance your automation skills.

    Reply
  26. Tomi Engdahl says:

    7 infrastructure performance and scaling tools you should be using
    https://opensource.com/article/19/6/performance-scaling-tools

    Reply
  27. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
    Google was never really serious about tablets, with years of scattershot reboots; its decision to stop making tablets was rational but could be shortsighted
    https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/21/18700394/google-tablets-android-chromeos-priorities-cancellation

    Reply
  28. Tomi Engdahl says:

    IBM gains unconditional EU approval for $34 billion Red Hat deal
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-redhat-m-a-ibm-eu-idUSKCN1TS1Z4

    U.S. tech giant International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) on Thursday won unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $34 billion acquisition of software company Red Hat (RHT.N).

    Reply
  29. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Microsoft Doesn’t Back Up the Windows Registry Anymore
    https://uk.pcmag.com/windows-10/121518/microsoft-doesnt-back-up-the-windows-registry-anymore

    BY MATTHEW HUMPHRIES 1 JUL 2019, 3:41 P.M.
    It’s still possible to perform Windows Registry backups, but the option is disabled by default. Microsoft made the change to save on storage space.

    Reply

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