When the number of “Eyes” represents shared information!

When the number of “Eyes” represents shared information!

At a time when our attention has been directed at the “Five Eyes” – the sharing of intelligence among five nations with common global interests – maybe it’s time to reflect on my family’s “Two Eyes”. I am fortunate enough to be married to a partner with whom, like the above nations, we share similar global interests. In other words, career-wise, our paths are very similar.

We are of an age where our childhood was analogue and our early adulthood saw the transition to the digital age. Music did play a part in our lives. The arrival of cassette tapes meant we could take music with us – our Sony Walkman with dual headsets were our constant companion. But more importantly still, we watched as memory moved from magnetic rings to silicon packed on chips. We went to Sydney, Australia on a mission to look at wireless interconnects from researchers who then turned their research into what is today, WiFi! Yes, we are both witnesses to the emergence of a technology that now underpins our very lives.

But two eyes? With such a shared history, rather serendipitously; back in the ‘80s we both worked for Nixdorf Computers and at one time, we were both in the US HQ of Nixdorf (Waltham) but didn’t run into each other, or knew about the presence of the other. Never made eye contact but it might very well have happened! It was at Tandem Computers where our transition from analogue to digital saw us working together on networking and communications product offerings.

It turned out that our careers at Tandem Computers shaped our future Nonstop lives. As we watch the interest growing over New to Nonstop (New2Nonstop), we can’t help but smile. We were both new to Nonstop when Nonstop was new. Looking back, the stories we can tell. We lived through the success of Nonstop along with the missteps where market trends were misidentified. Remember Frame Relay and Asynchronous Transfer Mode – killer technologies for all computer users, guaranteed?

Fast forward to today where, for almost two decades, we have worked together as modern-day town-criers! Storytellers of the modern age. I may write the story but the influence, yes, the insight, is a shared (and always acknowledged) pursuit. Margo has edited every line I have ever written just as she has provided critical contributions to the storylines. Two eyes? Yes, I am often left speechless (no, that does not really happen) when her intuition has led to a substantial redirection of a storyline to where it became more relevant (and yes, far more readable).

We were children of the ‘60s. We explored the ‘70s and developed passions for technology in the ‘80s. We believe in advocacy for the technologies we helped build just as we strongly believe in the value of influencing. As we watch the dawn of AI and are fully aware of the immediacy of its impact on technology and indeed, the global workforce, for the first time we have to admit that two eyes are simply not enough. Nor are five, ten or a hundred eyes. And yet, between us and with our shared histories, our partnership represents a good place to start.

As a community, Nonstop creators, users and vendors, face the extraordinary challenge of broadening the industry verticals where Nonstop remains as relevant as it was when it was new. And this is a message for all of us; we cannot sit idly by and expect others to do the job for us. This is our community and, in these times, together as a community, we will live or die solely on the amplification of our collective voices. A keyboard and a media platform are our new vehicle for championing all things Nonstop.

However, what has become blindingly obvious to Margo and me is that we need to continue to adapt to the world changing around us, most importantly the advances in AI. Without clear “guardrails,” mixed messages can be created about the role of Nonstop and we need more than two eyes and a lot more sharing of information so as to be sensitive to misinformation that might appear on our favorite social media channels. If we want to champion all things Nonstop then, with AI, we need to be diligent at all times.

At the same time, the skillsets Margo and I have demonstrated for almost two decades has not been writing per se but rather the wealth of experience we bring to marketing. Writing is the important byproduct of a marketing pursuit as good communication is still a highly sought after commodity. The impact of AI? Nothing really changes from our perspective – we still need to remain willing to keep learning to learn. And with that, a recognition that our creativity, and our desire to express it, are limitless. According to an interview with Sam Altman of Open AI fame, these words jumped from the responses he provided –

Yes, Altman may have his critics but it’s hard to argue these observations.

The cassette tapes are long gone. Vinyl is still present in our lives but not of the scale of decades ago. CDs and DVDs line the shelves in our garage as we are reluctant to part with their contribution to our lives. Yes, there is still a paper map of the US on our coffee table! What our two eyes have experienced covers more than a half century of tech and through it all, the future continues to excite us.

Our eyes may lose focus sometime, much later, but what will never be lost is our appreciation about how we have lived through a technology revolution – the information age – and are on the cusp of witnessing yet one more revolution.  Have we more stories to share? Count on it, and we most definitely need to keep our eyes focused on what Nonstop customers really want so that we help shine a spotlight on those Nonstop vendors “building useful thing.”

And there is so much more to be seen that our shared passions show no signs of lessening. When you see Margo and me giving presentations at industry gatherings, stop by for a coffee and conversation as our two sets of eyes continue to absorb all we see. And, to paraphrase the 2015 film, Jurassic World, it is not about opening paddock nine or where it’s about teeth or even about running headline in boutique high heels, but yes, clearly and to the benefit of all of us, we need more eyes!

It may not be the number of eyes but most definitely, fresh eyes will always be appreciated by all of the Nonstop community.