The new era emerges from the build-out of the wireless information highway and low-cost high-performance computing engines.

FORBES: Rating Yelp as a Bellwether of the Social Media Tech Boom

But as the software technology matures, it will increasingly be able to lash together thousands of low-cost computing nodes and create a flexible, high-performance corporate data center.

FORBES: If Cloud Computing Is Here, Then Where Is My Jet Pack?

These high-end customers have plenty of money and care more about performance and features than low cost.

FORBES: High Sensor Costs Won't Stand in the Way of the Self-Driving Future