Future of Computing is Boring (and that is exciting!) or How to get to Computing Nirvana in 20 years or less

TL;DR

The paper envisions the future of computing evolving into a utility model akin to electricity, emphasizing the importance of reducing developer time to achieve computing Nirvana within 20 years.

Contribution

It proposes a vision for the future of computing, highlighting remaining challenges and emphasizing the critical role of minimizing developer time for progress.

Findings

Computing is evolving towards a utility model similar to electricity.

Reducing human developer time is crucial for future computing advancements.

Remaining challenges include cost and standardization in computing infrastructure.

Abstract

We see a trend where computing becomes a metered utility similar to how the electric grid evolved. Initially electricity was generated locally but economies of scale (and standardization) made it more efficient and economical to have utility companies managing the electric grid. Similar developments can be seen in computing where scientific grids paved the way for commercial cloud computing offerings. However, in our opinion, that evolution is far from finished and in this paper we bring forward the remaining challenges and propose a vision for the future of computing. In particular we focus on changes in cost of computing and high cost of human time in comparison that indicates that saving developer time is the most important for future of computing.