Last week, at 3GSM, Microsoft President Steve Ballmer showed a VoWiFi enabled cell phone, running a version of Microsoft Communicator, and raising the spectre of free calling via WiFi hotspots. Think of what would happen if Skype came to the mobile world.
Naturally, this has operators quaking in their boots. More interesting, however, was Ballmer’s comment:
“Most people have a personal life and they have a professional life. And they want the device that goes in their pocket to give them one glimpse of their information, whether it happens to be part of their private life or part of their professional life.”
Indeed.
One could add also that the notion of "work-life balance" preached by so many HR departments is a sham today. The reality is that we all take business related calls, if important, during our personal time, and vice versa. There is no black and white, personal and business, but rather shades of grey. The challenge is to successfully manage those shades. Ballmer’s vision makes it technically easier, but personally more challenging.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
