There was fair warning. That increasingly capable yet complex technology would form the Gordian knot of your age. The ancient legend reminds us that a knot too complex cannot be untied, it must be felled with a single, original stroke. By the fable, Alexander the Great sliced in two a yarn knot so complex it could never be untied, fulfilling a prophecy and beginning a new age. Your “digital home” has become a cacophony of complex, independent devices which I believe have become your “digital knot.” Alone each is capable, but together they challenge even the most technical minds to manage and navigate; to harmonize, to use and enjoy. Where is your sword? Where is your catalyst of change?

-”Inez Drew”

Has the muse told us no more, and no less than exactly what we needed to hear? Seeking out a catalyst of change, let us put aside today’s reality and ask how the ideal digital home should be experienced by ourselves, our families and friends?

In a departure from the “anytime, anywhere” vision of the internet, I suggest we focus on “experienced by anyone with ease”. While I wish to access stored knowledge and entertainment whenever and wherever, I want a daily experience that is simple and fluid, not diluted with the navigation of different technologies, interfaces, and navigational paths. When I enter my home, all applications and information are available on every screen, available to everyone in my home. Our experience – the consistent way in which we interact with stored knowledge, entertainment, social spaces, and applications – is configured once, in one place, accessed and enjoyed in every place. I want a singular compute resource able to power my experience wherever we are, with a consistent connection and navigational path to personal, shared, and web resources. I want to customize my experience so it is different from others, and create capabilities that can be shared with family and friends, broadcast to wherever we are. I wish to maintain privacy while blocking unwanted content and threats, creating an environment that is secure and safe regardless of which room, screen, or interface employed.

Information and Services are Secure and Available

Configuration is Uniform and Ubiquitous

My Experience is Personalized and Portable

A Shared Experience Creates Community Knowledge and Entertainment

Here are concrete examples of the experience that I seek. Any video can be played on any screen. Any application I own needs to be installed only once, configured once, and available to my entire family. We can navigate to information and applications by the same path no matter where we are, independent of device or physical location. If we have a new peripheral such as a printer or drive, I can install it and we can access it, in the same manner, from anywhere. When my child walks up to any screen, they have access only to the subset of data, applications, and the web that we have designated. When I walk into the home, my portable devices and my home devices act as one, fully synchronized. We can play all of our games on every screen, big or small.

Now that we have the technical means to solve usage problems individually, we can focus on how to make them work together in daily life. Easier to setup, share, and extend. Customizing our experiences and extending that experience wherever we are. Yet, the proliferation of devices, software, and web applications has moved in the opposite direction, each device with its own user interface, settings, capabilities – its own experience.

To turn the tide in the digital home may require a breakthrough innovation, or a novel evolutionary turn which tends toward the unification rather than the fragmentation of our everyday experience. Where is our sword? Our catalyst of change? Are they close at hand and close to home, or far from reach?

This is the first in a multi-part series. The second has now been published and you can continue by clicking here –>>

Simon Solotko is a Senior Advanced Marketing Manager at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.