DG: Where do our readers go to find out more? How do they get to the next stage?

HB: You know, there's always a general source of information on the SAP Web site, which is http://www.sap.com. So, they can find information, there. But, if they're interested, they can speak with either SAP or Palm, and we can put them in touch with the right people within the organizations to actually begin to discuss with them about taking that to the next step.

DG: Is there anything special or new that enterprise customers should expect to see over the next six months as a result of this project?

HB: I think they're going to see a new level of collaboration existing between Palm and SAP, as to how we go to market in the enterprise space together.

DG: Okay. It's crystal ball time. You're in charge of the mobile operation for SAP. You've obviously got a really, really good view of where all of this is going. In general, taking everything into consideration five years out, ten years out, what does that world look like?

HB: I'd say that five years out we're looking towards capabilities that would make any Web site, any information, available via a voice-enabled mobile device.

DG: You think voice is going be that important?

HB: Oh, yeah. Now, if you could just speak to that device, as you would to me on the phone, and it entered your contact information or your calendar information immediately, wouldn't that be much, much more powerful? And, what if that same device was also a phone? So, we can get away from carrying two or three devices, you know, the Batman utility belt kind of look.

I think that's where we're heading. And, I'd say that's going begin to happen within the next couple of years.

This might be kind of funny to actually throw in, I went and I asked one of our key development managers over in Germany what his thoughts were. You know, kind of taking the crystal ball view, five to ten years out, and he basically agreed with me on the five years. Then, on the ten years, his response was, "Well, I don't think we're really gonna have to worry about it because the comet's gonna hit. It's all gonna be over."

DG: That's a bummer thought. Unless he knows something the rest of us don't, I'm going to continue to look forward with a more upbeat perspective. How about you?

HB: I thought that was great, though. And, not really the response I expected.

But, as we get ten years out, I think then we really get into the significant waves, such as invisible computing that allows our cell phones to talk to Coke machines. As materials get received on a receiving dock, no longer does somebody do any sort of bar code scanning or individual parts receiving. Inventory just kind of wheels itself in. And, via our technology, the computer, at that point, already knows what's on that loading dock.

DG: What do you think is going to really surprise us in five or ten years?

HB: I think how pervasive the voice technology is going to be as a means of data entry and interaction with the computers. I think we're really going to get into the Star Trek kind of world, where we're doing much more of speaking to our computers than really doing active data input, via a stylus, mouse, or a keyboard.