'Sensors' Make Top 5 at IBM in List of Next Big Things

Whiz kids and visionaries at IBM told Big Blue's CEO Sam Palmisano the other day that sensors are one of the five Next Big Things. I say, 'Like, Dude, you're kidding, right?' Nevertheless, the story here got me to thinking about this meeting they had. I bet if you're this fellow Mahesh Viswanathan who is a vice president of strategy at IBM Research, you do a double application of your underarm deoderant since you're going to be with Sam the Man for eight hours and he can squash you like a bug if you fly off topic or buzz over technology's never-never land. That's why I've used a picture here of a fly on the wall. But first, here's what they had to say about sensors:

Governments, established corporations and start-ups have all shown increasing interest in sensors that can more easily track the movement of cargo, cars or even people. But what do you do with all of the data collected by the sensors? IBM will likely start to look into ways of combining sensor networks with data mining (developed originally by Rakesh Agrawal at IBM). Conceivably, amassing the data from several sensor networks could enable researchers to better understand traffic patterns or the early warning signs of disease outbreaks.

About the fly? Well, wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall while these poor mortals are trying to get through their 30 overheads in front of someone who runs an $80Billion-Plus global enterprise? I would, but then I figured with my luck, if I ever get this wish, it will turn out flies are deaf anyway. I'd have to settle for reading lips and that's no fun. That's when it dawned on me why flies eat the food. Unable to figure out what's going on, they say the heck with it and take a lunch break. Therefore,tThat would be me, atop that plate of croissants in front of Sam and walking the rim of his glass holding the sparkling water. 'Ouu, is that potato salad?'