Forward-looking: One of the most famous phrases about the value of networks came from Sun Microsystems' Scott Gage in 1984 when he declared that "the network is the computer." That long-time Sun tagline referred more to the value of connecting computers together and the concept of thin clients attaching to a centralized computing infrastructure than cellular networks. Nevertheless, it remains a prescient, pithy synopsis of where the computing and telecom worlds have been headed for the last three decades.
What just happened? Finnish telecoms giant Nokia has announced that the company is rebranding and, for the first time in almost six decades, changing its logo. The move is part of a strategy to disassociate Nokia from smartphones, which it hasn't made in around ten years.
Why it matters: While there hasn't been a whole lot of groundbreaking 5G news on the consumer front for some time, it's clear there's a whole lot of work and innovation happening in another part of the 5G ecosystem: infrastructure. There's growing activity from traditional "compute" industry vendors eager to make an impact on the telco world. Everyone from chip companies like AMD, to server hardware manufacturers such as Dell, to software houses like Red Hat are doubling down on their efforts to help disrupt the market.