18. Social networks
They may seem like a big waste
of time, but social networks have
had a significant effect on the way
people and businesses connect and
communicate.
The OpenOffice.org
productivity suite was
successful in opening
up document formats.
underpowered and overpriced.
The current wave of netbooks fixes
those problems, achieving small
size along with decent capabilities
and low prices. While hardware
vendors may hate them, netbooks
continue to be popular with consumers.
15. Openoffice.org
Sure, if the bar for success is
supplanting Microsoft Office, then
Openoffice.org has been a failure.
But if overall impact is considered,
Openoffice.org has definitely been
influential, especially when it
comes to opening
up document for-
mats.
16. POE
Power over
Ethernet is still a
relatively new technology, and many
companies haven’t implemented
it yet. But companies that have
moved to POE have seen major
benefits, especially in the ability to
run devices such as VOIP phones,
access points and other appliances
without the need for a wall wart
to provide power.
17. Salesforce.com
Rising from the ashes of the
failed ASP market of the late 1990s,
Salesforce.com proved that companies would run vital enterprise
business applications—even CRM
and sales force automation—over
the Web.
19. Treo
Looking at it today, the Treo
may seem like just another smartphone. But the early Treo set the
stage for and was very influential
25 TECHNOLOGIES FROM PAGE 21The Treo set the stage for modern smart - phones.
in the development of modern
smartphones. Any phone today
that isn’t an iPhone or a new phone
directly influenced by the iPhone
owes a huge debt to the Treo (and
even the iPhone is influenced by
the Treo).
20. Twitter
Twitter is a waste of time. I’ll just
put that in my Facebook status, and
on the status update in my corporate collaboration system. Mmm.
Twitter changed the way we all communicate.
