Topic of the Month: To the Cloud!
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A long time ago, we used to refer to clouds as sources of shade and rain. Now it refers to, in many situations, the concept of shared computer resources, eliminating the need for everyone to have every program at all times and only use it once in a while. It can also refer to the sharing of computer resources with another enterprise.

From a TRIZ perspective, the "cloud" is a predictable event and technology. We have been discussing off and on the TRIZ Lines of Evolution, which clearly predict qualitative changes in technology. One of these is "upward system integration".

Consider the following:

A recent IPad® application, Magic Fiddle™, visually shows the outline and fingerings for a violin and a song can be played by simply following the symbols. The thumb is the bow and controls volume. Interactive learning teaches trills, chords, and glissandos. So much for real violins and violin instructors.

Netflix™ and Redbox™ have replaced video stores and the inventory shelves and service people. So much for metal shelf manufacturers and the installation jobs.

Kimberly Clark has brought on the market technology to wind toilet paper that does not need a core to maintain a hollow center. So much for the cardboard manufacturers.

Starbucks, driven by the same environmental focus of not throwing stuff away, has had a contest to design a coffee cup that can be reused. 1 BILLION a year by 2015. So much for the pulp producers.

Training bikes without training wheels are now on the market after discovering that children actually learn faster without them. So much for the wheel suppliers and metal producers.

Clothing with built in UV protection is now on the market, minimizing the use of sun screens. So much for the chemical makers and formulators.

The dramatic drop in land line phone usage (25% in 5 years) with cell phones becoming a total substitute. So much for the plastics makers of the land line phones.

The Black and Decker Paint Stick(R) eliminates the aluminum paint pan. So much for the aluminum producer and metal forming business.

All of these changes are reported as "surprises" in the media, but they aren't really. They are the natural, known progression of products and technologies as seen in the study of millions of patents and new products. Think about how much money there is to be made if these changes can be seen years before others. That's what this aspect of TRIZ allows us to do.

Now I am exaggerating some when I say, "so much for....", but the point is that every material, product, or service has the POTENTIAL to be absorbed into its super-system or into a system or other product already in use. With the exception of the painting and phone examples, all of the above examples have occurred within the past few months and they are across a broad range of commercial products and businesses.

What about your cloud? What can you replace or absorb? How could someone replace you? Don't wait until you read about your demise in the newspaper or on the web and are sucked up into the cloud, never to be heard from again....

Upcoming TRIZ courses in Las Vegas and San Francisco, as well as an intro TRIZ course at the upcoming spring TRIZCon in Houston. This will probably be in April and we'll let you know the details when we have them from the Altshuller Institute.