A Work Prediction From 1986

In 1986 as a student at Centennial College in Toronto, I took a Programmer/Analyst program. I had an instructor by the name of Bill Warren. Students thought some of his ideas were so outrageous that they called him Billy Bob.

I thought Bill was a visionary and that is even confirmed today.

Let me explain…

Bill had a dream. In 1986 he wanted to take a portable computer and work on a beach. His thoughts were miles ahead of its time. Remember George Orwell and the book 1984. It was written in 1948.

In those days we did the bulk of our work on terminals. The college had one microcomputer course that was it and two labs. They were based on Janet. Waterloo University’s network solution was called “Just Another Network”.

There was no Novell, No Windows at that time and not even Microsoft Networking. Not even wireless routers. The world has sure changed.

Bill predicted the future. You can work on the beach. I am writing this article on my laptop (a portable computer) on the Go Train connected to the Internet via my smartphone.

For those who do not know Go Transt is a regional transit system that services southern Ontario using buses and trains. It is run by Metrolinx which is a subsidiary of the Ontario Government.

I am not using the onboard wifi—more on this in my next article. I am connected to the Internet by using my smartphone as a hotspot.

Bill you were truly a visionary. Thank you for your wisdom and for sharing it.