Several weeks ago all T-Mobile subscribers owning an iPAQ h6315 received an update notice. An SMS message was sent directing us to their HP Updates page. In a rare ain't broke, don't fix it moment for me I decided to wait on the message. Smartphones in general have proven to be a challenge to setup - most especially synchronization. My experience was not uncommon - and having reach a point where both Exchange ActiveSync and Bluetooth ActiveSync worked consistently - I was in no rush to tamper.

So of course chaos reared its head Thursday night. I accidentally allowed my Smartphone to lose all power - essentially resetting the device factory defaults. All configuration, software and mailbox items e.g. contacts were wiped out. Thus there was no reason to avoid a ROM/firmware update. In case there are other users balking at the update, here are my notes (few as they be) of the process.

Over the past two decades - in which my own computing experience neatly fits - the making, moving, and re-moving of information has necessarily evolved. From dBASE to MySQL, 68000 to IA-64, Ethernet to Bluetooth, from flat-file to Infoset. Between those lines are very many careers and fortunes, but one thing has remained constant: computing has been information-centric. As such the various constructs built up around that approach are increasingly brittle. Of the computing systems you have designed - how many have adapted to future, unexpected use? How many provide feedback to the computing process? I leave it as an exercise to commenters to debate the extent of data-centricity and componentization during this period.

What is the next big thing in computing?

A collection of technologies are about to produce a grand leap in computing power. They are not the theoretical vapor upon which our entire industry recently collapsed. Nor are they the proprietary monoliths of the 70's and 80's. They share a prime directive: solve well-defined units of work. Each sit on the verge of an inflection point - the other side of which is nothing less than full potential of the very nature of computing. While that may sound vast and awesome and marketing-ish - the reality is actually quite profound in its simplicity:

• Focus on the business at hand.