Return to work: How the technology, we rely on is about to change, again

Software as a service was the key to lockdown working, but as we start to leave our homes other innovations will have a role to play.
Cloud computing has underpinned almost every organization’s remote-working strategy in the past few months.
Thanks to browsers and cloud computing, the underlying hardware we use is now much less relevant than it used to be. Applications are no longer tied to particular devices or locations, like they used to be: not so long ago, some software could only be used on a particular PC, and only in the office.
This decoupling of hardware and software is very handy when you need to switch to remote working in a hurry – using any old PCs and laptops you can find – which is what hundreds of millions of people have had to do in the past few months. Cloud computing, along with widespread high-speed internet, has helped to keep most organizations up and running from a tech point of view. If the coronavirus had arrived a decade earlier, before either of these were widely adopted, then businesses and the economy would have struggled even more to stay operational.
What's noticeable is how little use the current crop of hardware innovation has been in this crisis in contrast to cloud software.
Wearable devices have become much less useful as we spend more time at home (Fitbit data usage has declined significantly according to one mobile network). Tablets haven't seen an uptick either: as analysts IDC note, tablets were "not the first-choice devices" for home working and home schooling during the lockdown period.