Meet Windows Azure (aka Learn Windows Azure v2)

Remember that massively popular “Learn Windows Azure” even that was held last December? Well the Windows Azure team evidently had so much fun with it that its back again on June 7th as Meet Windows Azure!

Last time around many of us (the Azure junkies) were also on twitter answering messages that came up. Well Magnus Mårtensson decided to help formalize that a bit more and set up a Lanyrd site so it will be that much easier for all the tweeps to get together.

And as if that wasn’t enough, we’re also starting an unofficial Blog Relay. So please create a post on this event and send a note to @noopman letting him know so we can get you added to the list. Here’s the last participants I have heard of:

MEET Windows Azure Blog Relay:

• Roger Jennings (@rogerjenn): Social meet up on Twitter for Meet Windows Azure on June 7th
• Anton Staykov (@astaykov): MEET Windows Azure on June the 7th
• Patriek van Dorp (@pvandorp): Social Meet Up for ‘MEET Windows Azure’ on June 7th
• Marcel Meijer (@MarcelMeijer): MEET Windows Azure on June the 7th
• Nuno Godinho (@NunoGodinho): Social Meet Up for ‘MEET Windows Azure’ on June 7th
• Shaun Xu (@shaunxu) Let’s MEET Windows Azure
• Maarten Balliauw (@maartenballiauw): Social meet up on Twitter for MEET Windows Azure on June 7th
• Brent Stineman (@brentcodemonkey): Meet Windows Azure (aka Learn Windows Azure v2)
• Herve Roggero (@hroggero): Social Meet up on Twitter for Meet Windows Azure on June 7th
• Paras Doshi (@paras_doshi): Get started on Windows Azure: Attend “Meet Windows Azure” event Online
• Simran Jindal (@SimranJindal): Meet Windows Azure – an online and in person event, social meetup #MeetAzure (+ Beer for Beer lovers) on June 7th 2012
• Michael Wood (@mikewo): Learn about Windows Azure and Chat with Experts, June 7th
• Shiju Varghese (@shijucv): Social meet up on Twitter for MEET Windows Azure on June the 7th
• Jeremie Devillard (@jeremiedev): Meet the Cloud–Windows Azure Event 7th June
• Kris van der Mast (@KvdM): Get ready to meet Windows Azure
• Magnus Mårtensson (@noopman): Social meet up on Twitter for MEET Windows Azure on June 7th

I hope to see you online on June 7th, look for @brentcodemonkey!

Evolution of the portable workstation

Personal editorial moment here. Then next week I’ll get back to resilient architectures, I promise.

I’ve been doing IT for 20 years now. And I’m not ashamed to admit I remember the days of the early “briefcase” portable computers from IBM. I’ve been carrying around a laptop for about 7yrs now with it being my primary workstation (replacing a traditional desktop tower PC) about 3 years ago. But in the last 4 months I’ve been spent most of my time on the road and become increasing dependent on my smartphone, then an Android Tablet, and of late, a slate device running Windows 8.

While taking with a colleague yesterday about mobile devices and their place, I realized that all these devices fill different needs for me. And that ultimately, they all are still just steps in an eventual evolution of the portable workstation.

When I’m “on the road”, I need a portable desktop. So I’m lugging around one of these 10lb monster “desktop replacement” systems with the 17 inch monitor. I like this because quite often I’m showing up on Monday at a client site and don’t know if I’ll have a external monitor or not and I need to be able to be self sufficient. So lugging this beast around gives me a full keyboard and decent sized monitor in one package.

But when it comes time to run off to a meeting, I’d grab my lightweight Android based tablet. It works great for taking notes, checking email, calendar, etc… And through the use of packages like Dropbox and Evernote I’m able to easily sync content between the tablet and my Windows 7 “laptop”.

Then along came the slate. It doesn’t have the batter life of the tablet (which I want on longer flights or for days when I’m travelling between client meetings). But it does everything my laptop does but is more portable. I’m not really keen on a 4hr power coding session on it, but its good for light use or travel

So different needs, but IMHO these are all just experiments. I need to use software to sync stuff between them. What’s really needed, and what I don’t think we’re too far away from is a single “logical” workstation that’s spread across multiple physical devices, all linked seamlessly via the internet.

Imagine in the next 5yrs that we can “link” our tablet/slate to a laptop or desktop computer. We can extend the displays and use a single keyboard/mouse to interact with them (providing everything isn’t running touch screens by then). Better yet, the storage and apps on each device are shared. I can see the storage on the table from the pc and via versa, even when I’m in a different room with only one of the devices. In a meeting and need that spreadsheet from the desktop in your office, just click and it opens on your tablet. No “syncing”, no manual copy. Best yet, the app you open it with is the same as the one you would use on your desktop machine and even knows the settings you had for it there.

Blurring the lines here is what I think will happen eventually. Its what we’re all really wanting it. Multiple access points into the same virtual machine if you will. We’ve seen the beginnings of this with the iPad’s integration with Apple TV and even with Microsoft and the ability to “play”something from a mobile device on my XBox. So when this does finally come to pass, I can point back here and say “see, I told you!”.

The cloud (to get back to my normal topic) will be a catalyst for helping make this happen for consumers. And as that evolution plays out, businesses will eventually follow suit. But regardless, it is certainly an exciting time to be working in IT. I can’t wait to see what the next 20 years brings.

Until then!