Computing's Tide Carries Fun and Games Back to the Data Center

David Schatsky | April 26, 2007, 09:54 AM

Computing originated in the data center, and over the years, with technology and scale driving costs, size and power requirements down and performance up, it migrated out to the desktop, the laptop and even into the hands of consumers. It's a well-known story by now.

Something interesting has been taking shape this decade, though. To a large degree, the action in commercial computing has been shifting from its scientific and technical origins, to media, entertainment and creative applications.

On the desktop, that is a niche that Apple has dominated. With portable music players, it's a whole market Apple dominates.

There is growing evidence now that the tide is turning, with the focus on media and entertainment applications flowing from the hands of consumers, back to the desktop and even into the server room. Competition is heating up that will determine which company, if any, dominates the game there.

Apple's second-quarter financial report pointed to record sales of Macintosh computers, and quoted Steve Jobs trumpeting an increase in market share for the Mac.

The New York Times quoted equity analyst Eugene A. Munster as explaining this growth as follows: "There's a global shift in how people see personal computers--for entertainmnet, creativity and good looks." This is where the action is. And Apple is especially well positioned to take advantage of it.

Separately, the Times also reported today that both Sun and IBM are introducing new high-end servers that offer formidable support for video and gaming applications. Sun's video server "is potentially powerful enough to transimit different standard video streams simultaneously to everyone watching TV in a city th esize of New York," according to the article. IBM's machine, it says, is "capable of permitting hundreds of thousands of computer users to interact in a three-dimensional simulated on-screen world" with "an unparalleled level of realism."

It seems as if the tide of computing, having lapped at the shores of consumer passion points, is returning to the data center, bringing a fresh focus on media and entertainment, and renewed interest in giant server-based architectures as well.