This blog goes deeper into the technology we have at our fingertips, be sure to utilize this appendix of great online resources.
In October of 2013, I wrote a blog called Staying Current in the Rapidly Changing World of Technology. The article covered why it’s important to stay current on technology, some recommendations on how to accomplish this, and a list of resources for staying current. All the content is still relevant and useful – and the blog post continues to be popular.
I got a lot of requests for an updated version, so it inspired me to write this version: How Nontechnical Leaders Can Stay Current On Key Technology Trends, which was originally published in Forbes on July 1. In the latest article on the topic, I explored additional reasons for staying current as well as a few additional techniques for achieving these goals.
While drafting the article, I also developed a completely updated and expanded appendix of resources you can use to stay current on technology. Many, many thanks to all the exceptional Centric thought leaders and experts that helped me compile this list!
Appendix of Technology Resources
Content Aggregation Tools
- LinkedIn – LinkedIn has become the Facebook of the business world. Influencer articles bubble to the top of your primary page. You can also review what your contacts are reading and liking.
- StumbleUpon– State your interests and see what pops up.
- Google Alerts– News emailed to you based on search queries.
- Flipboard– Great iPad app for centralizing content from numerous web sites and sources.
- Instapaper– Great app for saving things to read later in your own personalized newspaper.
- Slashdot – Tech new aggregation site.
- ReadWrite– Tech blog aggregation site; also sorts via most popular articles.
- CNet– Tech news aggregator, news, video, downloads, podcasts.
Analysts & Research & Thought Leaders
- McKinsey & Company – Not all tech all the time, but when they do do tech it’s very good.
- Harvard Business Review – What you say? Yes indeed. There’s a technology feature every month. Focus is business and strategic, but they’re always good.
- Real Story Group – We love our friends at RSG. They go deep on the topics they cover, and we love deep.
- SapientNitro – Lots of good articles on all things digital and customer journey and much more. Their annual Insights publication is a classic.
- ThoughtWorks – Many great articles on tech, a perennial good source of information.
- Directions On Microsoft – For the inside scope on Microsoft products, leadership, and pricing.
- Technically focused magazines and sites like Wired, Fast Company, Business Insider.
For The Cool Kids
- Twitter – Follow the tech rock stars to stay current on any technology imaginable (yes, Twitter matters and is important. You should have an account).
- InfoQ – As in InfoQueue, it’s a site focused on software development covering mobile, HTML5, agile, java, SOA, cloud, etc.
- Y Combinator – Hacker News site created by Y Combinator. Can work a bit like Digg, where most popular stories rise to the top.
- Stack Overflow – Q&A site for programmers; old school forum on steroids.
- The Pragmatic Bookshelf – Pragmatic Bookshelf is a source for books and instructional videos, but they also publish a really nice and free online magazine that you can download as a .pdf (potentially deeper than a CIO would want to go, but great for everyone else!)
- The Next Web – Online publication delivering international perspective on latest news and technology.
- MIT Technology Review – MIT technology review about technologies that matter. Content is much broader than software, but very well done.
- Engadget – Web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics.
- TechCrunch – Technology media property, dedicated to obsessively profiling startups, reviewing new Internet products and breaking tech news. Our experts love the morning Crunch Report.
- MCPMag and RedmondMag – Aggregation of Microsoft-related technical topics.
- Reddit – Yes, reddit has a lot of technology related threads that have resources compiled in one convenient thread. An X-factor kind of way to stumble into latest trends and happenings.
- GitHub – Some GitHub pages end up hosting a wealth of information, trends and latest developments. Here is an example for Data Science.
- Quora – This site does a great job explaining things in layman’s terms. Top technology leaders chime in on hot topics and tough questions about technology and trends.
- User Groups – There are user groups in your town on virtually any technical topic – rails, java, .net, etc. This is a great way to engage and get to know the experts.
Online Universities / Training / Tutorials
- Lynda– More than 1,800 video courses for just over $25/month.
- edX – More online courses.
- Udacity– Another option for free, online courses for high school students, college students and professionals.
- Pluralsight– Hardcore (paid) developer training.
- CodeAcademy– Learn to code interactively, for free.
- FullStack Academy – Learn to code, design and ship web apps at the best beginner-focused software school in the world.
- VentureBeat – This is a great source for news, events, groundbreaking research and perspective on technology innovation.
- VB Profiles – This is a source for timely, relevant and comprehensive information on industries, industry trends, companies and people— designed from the ground up to meet the needs of business managers, sales, and research professionals. VB Profiles helps drive businesses forward with its robust crowd-sourced data gathering model, paired with automatically-updated enterprise-specific news.
Favorite Blogs & Podcasts
- Zero Distraction – Eclectic articles mostly related to technology, by Alex Knight.
- Anil Dash – Anil Dash blogs about the way technology shapes and transforms culture, media, government and society
- GigaOM – Where tech and business blogging come together.
- Office Blogs – The best of Microsoft Office related topics.
- Developer On Fire – Podcast with inspiring interviews with successful software developers, architects, testers, and other professionals with stories of success.
- Hanselminutes – Fresh air for developers, just a great resource for all things tech.
- .Net Rocks – A weekly talk show for anyone interested in programming on the .Net platform.
- Yet Another Podcast by Jesse Liberty – Jesse has a great way of making technical things clear and easy to understand. He casts on a very wide range to topics.
Old School
Here’s a list of old magazine standbys, some that have been around for more than 25 years:
- CIO Magazine, Computer Reseller News, Computerworld, EDN Magazine, InfoWorld, InformationWeek, Linux Journal, Wired and ZDNet.
- Infoworld – A standby; great for broad exposure to many topics.
- US-CERT – Great site related to cyber security.
- CODE Magazine – A great .net technology online and print magazine subscription.
- .net Magazine– Not just .Net but also a front-end developer and designer magazine from the UK (.net, framesworks, design, tutorials, etc.).
- A more extensive list can be found here
Hope you find these links useful! Please post a comment if you’d like to add to the list.tech
