December 18, 2012, 4:00 PM — Call them the epic fails of technology. In 2013, a few technologies will fade into an abyss, swirling around and clinging for a last gasp of air before eventually dying. For IT executives looking to make contingency plans and approve budgets, these are the technologies to avoid.
1. Legacy Applications
Report: Gartner Says SaaS Now Replacing, Extending Legacy Apps
That means not having to run-or maintain-legacy apps in a data center. While you might still depend on legacy apps, you won't run them the same way or manage them in your own data centers.
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2. Mobile Applications
The brightest thinkers in technology have predicted the demise of apps for some time. Doug Pepper with InterWest Partners, venture capital firm, says apps will transform into intelligent agents that know about our preferences, location-even the time of day and our schedule.
Analysis: Mobile App Standoff: Web App vs. Native App
We won't need a weather app anymore, or even a widget. Instead, the phone will customize the home screen to feed only the data we need based on our own customizations. That means not having to manage hundreds of apps.
3. Traditional Desktops
This is an interesting paradigm shift that might require some adjustment in our thinking. Today, your desktop is the place you store apps and picture of your kids. Over the past few years, though, thin-computing devices such as the Google Chromebox have shown how old-fashioned a desktop is. (The Chromebox has only a browser. There is no desktop.)
News: Windows 8 Brings Zero 'Pop' to Consumer PC Sales
ScienceLogic's Piriano says the desktop will die in 2013 as more companies move to a virtual desktop in the cloud-benefiting from centralized control in the process.
4. BlackBerry Smartphones
