[Web4lib] Demise of IT?

[jimm wetherbee]

Jennifer Heise wrote:
> A speaker at a conference I attended yesterday appeared to be suggesting that in 20 years, no non-profit institution (including colleges) would havein-house IT staff.  I see institutions without in-house IT support going downhill in terms of productivity and effect. But what do others think?
I can see a move toward off-cite e-mail/messaging/video and whatever 
will be the equivalent of a web-presence (including the library catalog) 
in 20 years.  I can even see whatever equivalent to the 
PC/tablet/smartphone we see in 20 years might be as straight-forward as 
toaster.  What I don't see is the campus network going away in that 
period of time.  Back in the day of POTS campuses had their own PBXs 
(and people who knew how to maintain them) and a campus network is much 
the same.  Even if all IT appliances are a simple to use as a toaster, a 
campus would no more rid itself of IT (at some level) than it would of 
electricians.

--jimm

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Jimm Wetherbee                 | jimm at wingate.edu
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