In most industries, change comes at a slow, plodding and predictable pace. Many workers today have new tools and processes, but the job they do isn’t much different from what a similar worker was doing 20 years ago.
But, for those of us lucky enough to work in the technology industry, there is nothing slow, plodding or predictable about the changes we deal with on a regular basis. And the forces that feed and bring about these changes are emerging technologies.
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The history of IT is filled with examples of the massive changes that can be brought about by core emerging technologies.
In the mid-1980s, IT workers were concerned mainly with configuring stand-alone PCs; managing access to central mainframes; and, by the end of the decade, setting up basic network access. In the early 1990s, workers were concerned with e-mail and groupware systems.