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The Software Industry is Dead? No Way!
posted by Peter William Lount
version 1, August 24th, 2004

Interview (here) with Tom Nies, President of Cincom Systems, Inc. and Futurementary (a commentary creating the future) by Peter William Lount

"Recently, one prominent figure in the software industry said that the “industry is dead.” Was he correct? Will only the strong survive?" "We interviewed Tom Nies, President of Cincom, to get his views on this statement and his thoughts on the future of the software industry. As the longest-serving CEO in the industry (35 years), Tom sees a much different software industry that’s ready to reach its full potential." - Software Business Journal

"We are not just relying on human ingenuity and inventiveness any longer. We’ve got powerful levers. Instead of pulleys and winches to lever up muscles, we have computers to lever our minds. But, all of this technology, everything, revolves around software. The software industry will be a very critical industry until the day we decide we’d prefer to work harder and longer with our backs, rather than further lever our minds. Surely, no one will decide to do that." - Tom Nies.

"The future is in your hands!" - Anonymous.

Everything is a matter of one’s ability to imagine, see and understand progress. Those who believe that there is no further growth, or that nothing big will be developed, have a limited view of the creativity of the human spirit." - Tom Nies.

Tom hits the head on the nail. Inventing the future depends on your attitude towards the future. Are you someone who can imagine what can be and act accordingly to make it happen? How do you support people who are in the trenches building the future? Do you demand immediate results? If so that's limiting the future potential. Do you support long term results and trust that the people doing the work can get it done?

The Zoku Collaboration Project is a project rooted in the future. It's a long term project with minimal immediate revenue potential. As with any long term project it's important to make progress, but more often than not the progress is abstract and invisible to others. When building a language compiler it can take a while to demonstrate the results and when each success is one of a thousand that need to be accomplished before commercial results can payoff it's a tough project to find supporters. Too many people are rooted in the immediate present of one to twelve months. How can a future built on new technologies unfold when it's mired and intertwinded with current technologies that keep us anchored in past legacy technologies? Interoperation with other systems via standards is one thing but to let existing systems keep us rooted in present technologies isn't focued on the future it's focued on the past or the future of the past, not the future from the future. The new inventions will come from a strong foundation rooted in the future built. When we stand on the shoulders of giants to see further will we take the leap into the unknown or will we play it safe and incrementally inch forward. The great leaps forward come from those brave souls who "think different" and stand out from the crowd, or wear the bright shirt in the uniformed minds of the work place. It really comes down to who is leading you to your future? You or others? You or the giants who's shoulders you are standing on? By all means we need the foundations that they laid out for us. To what extent do we need to follow the projections of these giants futures, projections that are now past driven futures? When do you break from the past? When do you break from the future driven by the past? When do you create a future created from the future? A future invented by you for you? A future invented for all your purposes and aims in life? A future for all human beings?

“The wheel is an extension of the foot, the book is an extension of the eye, clothing, an extension of the skin, electric circuitry, an extension of the central nervous system."
- Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore, The Medium Is the Message, 1967

“Zoku is an extension of the individual, team, business or tribe."
- Peter William Lount, 1999

Recently, in an interview with Charley Rose, Gary Hart said a "Grand Strategy is the application of all your capabilities to all your purposes."

What are all your capabilities? What are all your purposes? What futures do your purposes pull you towards? How can you achieve them? Who can help you? How can you find people who's purposes are aligned with yours? What is your Grand Strategy?

My grand strategy is unfolding. In part it involves the invention and implementation of the Zoku Collaborative project, Zoku.com, a new evolutionary and revolutionary variation of the Smalltalk Language. However it goes way beyond any Smalltalk system. It's a new breed of software. It's the future. How do I know? I've seen it, and now I'm building it. The language is defined. The compiler is underway. That's 2/1000th of the project. "The Art of the Long View" is what it's about.

What's crucial about the future? What's crucial to your future?

The key is recognizing if you are someone who is anchored in and limited by the past, the present projected from the past, the future constrained by the past, or if you are someone who takes the leap into an unknown future by breaking the bonds of projection and sets your imagination free! Are you someone who can recognize the potential futures that others are creating that are worthwhile even though they might be longer term and uncertain? Who are you now? Who are you becoming?

What future are you creating?

All the best,

Peter William Lount

Wednesday
August 20 2008

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