2008 predictions

The Palm Centro will Either revamp the desire to have a PDA phone (cheap and lots of features) or there will be a PocketPC Version/equivilent of the Palm Centro which will sweep he market

PDAs have this.

The same way we do today on such laptops. IBM, tosh and others had optional drives so we used the usual option or USB drive to load such up.

But let's ask this. If this is your purchase why not vote with your wallet?

For me this is an acceptable solution. My battery time will go up, laptop weight goes down and the size drops. Looks super to me.

Bob

Most software you get these days you download and get sent a CD key anyway. It actually makes no sense to get software via physical distribution means like a plastic disk in a cardboard box, when it's all just bits!
For stuff that doesn't, you can always make a image of the DVD on your desktop box, and use something like daemon tools. Or rip the DVD video to the hard drive.

Like myself, I imagine there are a large number of people out there who don't feel comfortable having their only copy of software (be it games, applications, etc) in a digital form. Until hard disk failure or file corruption is no longer a problem, people will want to retain a physical copy of their programs independent of their computers, just in case.

Also, how will they make DVD backups of things without optical drives?

As for a tech prediction, I say we might see a Zune phone, but I am certain the ever-growing sizes of HDTVs will hit some plateau due to either lack of materials or proportions being too large to be stable.

I sell Oracle software (largest Enterprise Software Company in the world). Last year I sold over $2 million in software and no hard media was deliverd to customers. In fact, Oracle does not distribute hard media copies of the software at all. This is benificial for many reasons. First, there is less environmental impact. Second, it is better for customers and the vendor as the software can be updated and supports easier. There is more version control as well as license control. This is starting to trickle down to personal-use software like Norton as well. Semantec licenses Norton via e-license as an option and you can log-in to download the software if you need to re-image your PC, etc.

"More version control as well as license control" is in the interests of the company, not the user's. So excuse me if I take my business elsewhere. Updates? Yes, please, but only after my approval. No compulsory updates. I've seen several programs become WORSE after an update, or sometimes it is not worse, but the old version is perfect for me and I don't want to go through the trouble of upgrading and fixing what ain't broken or else. That is a problem I have often with free software: upgrading is a drag, the old version is fine except for one little glitch, but if I don't upgrade to the very latest, support is denied systematically and completely. Dvorak is right on this one: long live shrink-wrapped software.

Good for the environment, consumer gets the software right away, download and install. No CD's to juggle around with or to litter your desk.

It's called backing up! I hope you do it.

My Predictions.

1. Solid state hard drives will become increasingly popular and thus make for innovations in cooling technology.
2. DVD ROM will remain for the rest of the year.
3. Magnetic Harddrives will break the 2TB threshold.

Just a Note.
While some of you say everybody's going to do download, this assumes that everyone is getting high download speeds and forgets that alot of us (myself included) get dial-up and very expensive ADSL and no - DSL.

I admit, I have to disagree with you on using computers that require CD/DVD drives, I'm currently on such a laptop, tablet pc in fact that doesn't have a optical drive and I do just fine. Most of the software and games I use are downloaded from the net,and I hardly ever need to attach it to the external drive I keep just in case I do need to use a physical medium for software. Secondly, the lack of a optical drive makes it easier for me to carry and use my tablet, it can fit in a regular shoulder bag with no problems and I don't look as conspicuous as someone carrying a full laptop carrying case or briefcase. So its a definite advantage and I'm not really held back by the fact I don't have a optical drive. To be honest, I think it runs cooler and quieter without it.

About Smartphones though, I agree with you. A phone is just a phone. So long as it has clean and clear reception, holds my contacts, looks current, and plays my favorite ringtone when it rings, I'm fine and don't give a flying flip about additional features. They're expensive and its kinda silly to have a phone thats a Mp3 player as well, it may be simple to have it all in one place, but if you lose that item, you've lost it all. That and additional features like web browsing and music features are just expensive and excessive. Of course it could be that I'm more conservative with my time and money than I care to admit and the younger generation may see more value and be attracted to cell phones with these features than I would be. To me it equates to nothing more than a waste of money.

Batman utility belt.

mp3 player and phone.
It makes complete sense to combine them, I mean, I look like an idiot with a mp3 player in one hand and a phone in the other.

I think I agree with this guy.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2222790,00.asp

I don't actually belong to MySpace or Facebook, in a sense because of the things mentioned in the article, but mostly because I don't need the internet to keep track of personal friends. I belong to a number of communities, like this one, where I can discuss specific topics with interested strangers. I think the holy grail of social networking will be an aggregator of some sort. I think the farther we go into social networking, the more it will become a niche market for specific interests.

One of those niche markets, though, will always be 'Narcissistic 16-24 year olds who want to be cool and clichey'. And that market is just about done with Facebook.

Really social networks are much more efficient at finding people and topics of interest to you. So they're like yellow pages, and ads have to supplement their existence, like Yellow pages ... people are starting to combine meeting people with entertainment topics like http://www.JustExpressing.com combines stories, discussion forums and social networks

That's double what it was just a year ago.

As much as I'd like to say that Vista will die, I highly doubt it. MS has way too much cash and market share to let that happen. I predict that after SP1 adoption will actually speed up.

CNN already has LIve video on their website, but it's a live feed of their International branch. They added it when they re-designed their site a few months ago. It's pretty darn good, too! I think more networks will jump on board and it will be lead by the deals made with the striking writers.

I think Apple will upgrade the iPhone enough to keep it relevant, but it won't be a huge overhaul. Helio or Google's Android OS will probably have the big "It Phone" of the year, if there is one.

Zune will become #2 - even if by the skin of it's teeth - and then Apple will finally put wifi in ALL of their iPods, darn it!

"Veronica will return to BOL"? Im very very hopeful.

Here are some of my predictions. Some might be a bit far fetched:

1. Wii sales will slow down slightly in early 2008. But will soon be back to an all time high when Wii Fit and Smash Bros Brawl are released. (Stock will increase but will still not be enough for the high demand until summer or later in the year.)

2. Apple will release a Tablet PC that will have Multi touch technology but will be missing an optical drive or a keyboard. (It will not be as big as a MacBook)

3. HMD (Head mounted displays) will be revolutionized with new organic LCD technology. But nobody will really know what to use them for... yet.

4. More and more affordable robots will be made and will be used for housework and heavy lifting.... no "Benders" yet.

5. Computer hackers will inadvertently send a virus (Via Wi-Fi) to the robots which give them the processing power of the worlds computers. Robots will then either fix global warming. Or take over the world.

Can you keep a secret? This is a portal to there base:

http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/

More about the robots:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TrJl-kU1Oc

But that's bound to happen evetually. As mp3 features become as common place and accepted as cameras in phones. I think people will have less reason to buy nanos.
I think this is the whole reason apple got into the phone market.

The integrated 'smart' devices will never completely replace a standalone MP3 player. The reason is price. More specifically, monthly fees. Anyone can buy and use an MP3 player without additional strings. But, only certain people can afford the monthly price tag that rides along with most smart devices. Until prepaid service comes to the masses and includes phones such as the iPhone, for this reason the smart devices won't replace no-monthly-fee standalone devices. I also don't see the sales of standalone MP3 players declining for this reason.

MP3 player sales may decline, but for other reasons. If the RIAA actually wins the case that proves 'steals just one copy', then MP3 devices are in danger of becoming a 'piracy' device and we turn back to the clock to the days of the original Rio. This reason alone is enough to cause MP3 devices to decline in sales.

--
Brian W.

iPod was just a fad and nothing more. That fad is wearing off of people who actually will spend their money more wisely. Perhaps something with more features? (Ahem, Zune, Cowon, or Archos..)

iPod was the cool factor, but that has since come and gone. Same design for all the 6 years save for the new Touch to keep the line alive. Too bad some people are already locked into the iPod trap.