Digitopolis meets encalming technology

Digitopolis (the city-like ecosystem of the computer industry) has to keep expanding its installed base or it will go into a major depression. To stay vibrant, Digitopolis requires a rapidly expanding market for computerized gadgets. Given the ever-shorter life cycles for hi-tech products, this is becoming increasingly difficult-unless the units shipped or profit margins go up dramatically. The answer: build network appliances, automobiles, telephones, games, and wallet computers as fast as consumers will adopt them. Thus, the next big thing will be gadgets. The author looks at two scenarios of what might happen in the industry's network appliance segment. In the first scenario, the network appliance is all user interface. In the second, the network appliance is invisible; it disappears.