Meet the People Who Make Your World

After ten years of conducting interviews with many of the greatest innovators in modern technology, I'm proud to offer these discussions as no one has ever seen them before. When these talks first appeared in CPU magazine, they had to be sliced down for space. But now, thanks to ebooks, I've been able to go back to the source material and replace the gems and fascinating tangents that were formerly lost. Moreover, most interviewees have generously contributed follow-up discussions.

These people aren't locked in the past. They're still here, still changing the world, and (usually) still giving us glimpses showing that the best is yet to come. I'll share some great passages from the "Architects of Tomorrow" series below. If you like what you see, grab the complete books here:


Good reading, and prepare to be inspired!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Opera CEO Sings of Future Browsing

Unlike many CEOs, Jon S. von Tetzchner started at the top and bottom of his business simultaneously. While he co-founded and became the chief executive officer of Opera Software in 1995, he was also one of only two employees—specifically the one who did most of the UI coding. Ever since, Opera has fought a long and arguably futile battle against Microsoft for the desktop browser market. However, von Tetzchner and company fight on, now having shifted increasingly to the mobile arena. Slated to appear in Architects of Tomorrow, Volume 2, von Tetzchner knows as few others can how we'll all be accessing our online lives.

CPU: Until now, browsers have more or less been windows onto the Web, but perhaps that role is expanding. Looking into the future, how do you think we’ll be describing browsers years from now?


von Tetzchner: Browsers will be everywhere. You will find them in all kinds of devices. The Web will come more distributed and the browsers will get server capabilities built in (like we have done with Opera Unite). You will have your home and all your devices connected. The devices will be interconnected and connected to the Web, as well.

Examples of devices being connected (many already starting to connect) include:
  • Blu-ray players
  • Media players
  • Receivers
  • TVs
  • Set-top boxes
  • Photo frames
  • Cars
  • Fridges
  • Stoves
  • Home surveillance
  • Home automation

The browser will also extend into robotics and you will be able to  remote control devices through the Web. The opportunities in this are immense. We have ourselves played with this through Opera Unite and JavaScript plugins. As an example, a couple of the guys built a remote controlled car with a built in Web camera using those technologies. The future will be very exciting, and there will be a lot of new innovation.