2008 predictions

The RIAA will be brought up on federal racketeering charges especially now that they are going after consumers who rip cds to MP3 so they can listen to music on their computers.

20% of American will continue to not care if a Wii is available or not, ever.

40% of American will continue to not give a rat's patootie who wins the HDD/Blue Ray war.

Millions of americans will suddenly wonder why their analog televisions no longer work. (that's an advance prediction)

I predict that digital cameras will reach a stage of competence that enables them to provide music, take pictures, and handle data and voice at a level equal to the stand alone devices people use now. My Samsung Sync already stores 2 gigs of music on a micro SD and a 4 gig card just came out. The quality of the sound via speakers or phones is unbelievable for a device of that size. The photo taking ability is very limited with a 2 meg capacity. Once the photo function improves to that of say a 4 meg camera with some of the camera's features, the phone will replace my Kodak Easy Share for general photo taking. For specialized photos such as birds at a distance for example a competent zoom with image stabilization will still be necessary.
Data transmission needs to improve and flexible menus will all help make the phone an all in one device .

damnnn youuu leee koooooooo!!! jk i do feel a little invaded tho! hahaha welcome everyone!

I think the trend in 2008 will be the realization amongst tech executives, and CTO's in general, that the young are avoiding IT/Soft. Dev. like the plague because of the outsourcing and H1B initiatives. Nobody wants a dead-end carear.

I also believe a noticeable trend of senior level developers and architects leaving the field for MBA's and management positions. Simply put, the United States Corporate culture does not value technological degrees and believes engineers are a commodity. You can earn more with an MBA and two years experience than you would as a 20 year software architectural position.

I hope corporate America is correct in that it can find talent overseas because they sure wont find it within the United States and talent from overseas wont be allowed within the borders of America which leads to the last prediction. The H1B program will not be expanded at all by Congress. It is radioactive with the American public and the tech industry lobbyists don't seem to realize this.

The crusade to educate online users about security will continue. And of course, online users will continue to lose their personal data to scams.

To many things in our environment cause wireless devices to jam up.

Businesses are being picked clean of their private customer data due to problems with security which is being further weaken by easy access of wireless connectivity.

I predict that more and more functions of high security connectivity will move back to a wired format until true control of data encryption can be put in place and wireless LANs have a truly functional way to keep unauthorized persons out.

Hard drives disappear, replaced by Solid memory devices. DVD's and CD's also disappear, replaced by Solid memory devices. Solid memory devices develop to the atomic level with gigabytes X gigabytes in a single USB flash drive, with prices within a teenager's ability to pay. LCD tv's replace the plasma and all other types of tv's, but thin film tv's begin to appear.

This is the one that I've been waiting for. Running cable lines to the places where my TVs live has been a big problem for me. In fact, I invested big bucks in a Sony LocationFree a couple of years back and have never looked back. Until now, the ad-on boxes for this function have been unsatisfactory to me. I'm now hearing that this year, flat-screen TVs will begin to offer a wireless chip that can receive a signal from a paired set-top box or DVD player. I'm loving the idea of a bigger-screen TV in my kitchen. I predict that this functionality will be a big hit.

Vista?s share of the OS market will continue to increase at a trickle. As the suicide rate continues to climb among computer professionals because of the Vista scourge, we will revolt in record numbers and begin the task of switching the world over to OS X and Linux. This is not our first choice but one that must be made in self-preservation. Unfortunately Microsoft will still triumph in the end due to their supreme marketing power to ram this hideous monstrosity down the throats of the world. Resistance is futile. When MS cuts of the supply of XP, then we will be squashed like bugs unless the switch to the alternatives is large enough to be heard in Seattle. Then we will still be squashed like bugs but can die with a shred of dignity and honor.

This will be the year of the GNOME and huge leaps in Gene technology. After the Democrats win the 2008 election , they will grant Scientists full stem cell research and Universities all over the US that have had their research grants sacked due to a bankrupt nation, will be given the funds they need to discover what the naked eye can't see and certainly Bush's naked mind. Um hum. I think we will see a lot of video rental stores closing this year. Netflix will release it first true video on demand network that allows people to download movies to their FOB and consumers using the USB on their LCD TV will be able to view movies at home. Maybe Apple will profect their iTV and users will be able to download movies to their computer and iTV will suck them in wirelessly to your TV as the iTVPort. Hopefully this will dawn the age of commercial free TV. AMC will monopolize the movie screen business ... all the small private movie theatres will be consumed. Apple will re-release their i-Book, competing with Amazon and Sony's ePaper books. ePaper will also replace all newspaper print ... it is 2008 why are we still using paper or wasting it. All you hedge fund soybean investers will be happy Detroit will announce a commercially available car that runs on soybean fuel. The US will be developing a wireless grid on all the highways to prepare for the first hands free self-drive vehicle. This program will be funded by Google, with Virgin timing in, to create hovering verhicles that seamlessly never break, in use yes air to fuel the vehicles. Other automotive companies will adopt BMW's Hydrogen 7 technology as BMW teams up with an Asian Automaker to release an affordable hydrogen car. Companies will wake up to the realization that you don't have to pay someone to come to work 5 days a week, for 40 hours to work on a computer, and instead move the workforce home. The work from home program will become more of a reality, companies will save 10's of millions of dollars and instead of building huge ugly tower buildings will build virtual companies. The work at home employees will be given 3 month vacations to spa's, free fitness memberships, and brain therapy to keep their bodies and minds tuned. Beer and wine taps will be fueled by beer and wine tap networks, simply order your Beer or Wine of the month, and tap your cool bubbly at the press of a button. Bottle water will become more and more expensive, as a hot summer will create reductions in a state wide water table. Rising water levels due to continued melting glaciers will result in Venice disappearing from the map.

1. Microsoft will make another major goof, and will lose a large chunk of marketshare. Apple will gain serious ground, and Ubuntu Linux will gain a wider userbase as well.

2. Apple will add support to the iPhone/iPod Touch for the automatic downloading of podcasts (subscribe on the 'pod, and it downloads via WiFi).

3. Apple will release a MultiTouch tablet.

1. Mac OS X will continue to whittle away at Windows' market share.

2. The iPhone will the device of the year, with developers dramatically expanding it's capabilities.

3. Many will upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows XP.

4. Linux will not gain any significant ground.

5. The Zune will continue to suck.

6. John C. Dvorak will continue to get it wrong.

7. Apple's new sub-notebook will be a hit.

8. iTunes rentals will be successful.

9. The Beatles will come to iTunes.

10. UMPCs will continue to go absolutely nowhere.

11. Apple will back BluRay. Format war may end.

12. Mac market share will top 15% or greater.

the gaming industry will contine to grow and may even see a remake of FFVII. Apple will try to further compete with Microsoft and Release the "iBox", dissaopinting sales will lead Steve Jobs to using his iPod-devouring consumer populace as his initial drones for his iBorg army. The fate of the world will be in the hands of those not assimilated (basically anyone who has a Zune, a Zen, or a Mini-Disc player will retain thier indiviuality until the iBorg Collective begins to hunt them down.)
Vista will go the way of Windows ME, I will continue to build PC's with XP for as long as I can, and Steam will still have more bugs than a bee hive. Half-Life 2 Ep 3 will release, but probably be overshadowed by FEAR 2 (Since FEAR kicked HL2's **** in many, many ways)
This year will also see the release of new Futurama episodes, and Family Guy/American Dad (what's the difference?) will still never be able to compete with anything Matt Groening makes.

Finally, and most importantly, Brave Saint Saturn will release their third album, and we will all know the fate of our brave astronauts on their way home from Titan, this release will be accompanied by the release of the DVD: The Rise and Fall of Five Iron Frenzy, and all will be well in the world of the few remaining Five Iron Fanatics.

Here's hoping for a greay 2008, and another shot for AMD to bloody Intel's nose yet again.

I don't understand why you feel optical drives are useless. Please tell me more.

I predict that (qualifying): For families with more than 2 computers in the home that the WINDOWS HOME SERVER will become as common as the IPod. I say this in light of the advent of digital multimedia HD televisions and A/V components that accommodate media streaming from a Network Attached Storage (NAT) or shared computer hard drive. Coupled with the desire to protect important data (like photos, home videos, financial records, etc.) as well as the complete contents of a hard drive on a client computer, the Windows Home Server will become an integral component in a home based computer system. With analogue television broadcasting soon to go off the air and the need to replace millions of A/V components with digitally based software and hardware electronics, the home computer/AV systems will be redesigned to incorporate digital media streaming and storage. Safeguarding that digital content will become paramount. And finally, ancillary add-ins to the Windows Home Server concept will grow to include automated home security (remote monitoring, video surveillance, etc.) as well as simple automated tasks that homeowners will come to depend on (like turning on and off lights, monitoring door locks, energy use - thermostat, and other growing automated home and green industries). I say all this because we have no longer (sadly I admit) the family environment of the Walton's, with personal family interaction at the forefront, but have become a fragmented, time-budgeted, efficiency conscious, and somewhat narcissistic society. Notwithstanding our present cultural habits, technology like the Windows Home Server and other novel technologies can either become a reinforcing agent for either kind of lifestyle depending on how it is used. For me the Windows Home Server gets me away from the computer (and computer maintenance utilities) and back in the family room to enjoy a family home movie played from my Windows Home Server of choice, the HP MediaSmart Server. Goodnight Aaron, goodnight John Boy.

Manuafacturers of DVD players will realize that if they are going to convince people to move up to High Def then they will have to make a player that plays everything you put into it, Blueray and HD-DVD. Along the lines of the DVD+ and DVD- burners, they do all formats now.

More and more number of cores are going to be added to the processor lineups..GPU integrated along with the CPU might bring a new genre of gaming performance and revolutionize the gaming industry...

I use my DVD/CD Drive all the time, why do you predict that they will be phased out?

Hopefully someone will come along with a PC that is more like a refrigerator than a complicated,failure prone device that is currently sold.A lot of us(probably not users of this board) don't need a computer to do much.Just want it simpler,reliable and fairly fast for a decent price.

1. The RIAA will step up its efforts to sue file sharing people resulting in a huge consumer back lash. In other words expect to see CD sales to decrease big time this year, illegal downloads will pick up the slack.
2. The HD and Blue Ray war will rage on with no clear winner this year, most consumers will still be on the fence with this one.
3. PC game sales will continue to grow, look for new games to keep the sales going and expansion packs from this years games will keep things interesting.
4. Apple's I-Phone will get some competition from a phone that wlll be able to activated on ANY network.

Not so much a prediction as a wish: I adore/covet/love the iPhone, in theory. However, I'm bummed that THEY lock you into what you want to use on the screen. I never-ever will be checking STOCKS, UTUBE, or use I-TUNES (having another MP3 player, already), and I think EBAY is also an option.

I wish another company, even Apple, would make a stripped down iPhone that had the calendar/internet/camera options minus the price charged for the other bells & whistles.

Yeah, I realize that I could buy the iPhone and NOT use those options but that' like buying a convertible for Antartica: I doubt the top will come down too often.

I can't believe that another company hasn't come out with a competitive phone that allows you to customize it, much as you can customize your computer's tool bar.

Oh well ~sigh~

dvds, cds going away...dwnloads and high def formats(mostly blu ray for home, hd dvd with comps)taking over. wireless cnx in hometheater more common, streaming, etc... full intergration of home systems like a/c, communications, security, appliances, door locks, everything with special remotes and upperline cell phones. no voice or touch screen yet.

The push for a media server in every household will blast off. We will see talk about the first consumer octa core processors (Core 2 Duo Octa?!?!)and the solid state hard drives will reach 64 Gb.

IPTV will take a much stronger foothold into America's homes, increasing the competition with traditional cable television services. IPTV has the capacity to carry essentially unlimited channels in both SD and HDTV. With the increasing purchase of HDTV televisions, more consumers will want HDTV content and cable will have difficulty due to antiquated architecture. AT&T will move to fiber-to-the-home instead of "to-the-curb", increasing overall bandwidth to its customers, increasing bandwidth to handle more televisions with its UVerse service. Smaller regional telephone companies will consolidate due to the demands for IPTV via fiber service.

2008 saw no relief for the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD format war, but with continual improvements in drive capacity, it no longer matters. For the price of a place to store all your discs you can now buy additional drive space for your media server and watch whichever movie you want on demand from any TV in your home.

Battery tech is taking steps to becoming the world saving technology it needs to be, and in 2009 you'll see the start of next generation batteries from Firefly Energy and production tests starting for lithium-silicon (Li-Si) batteries developed at the end of 2007 at Stanford.

Firefox 3 was released with support for offline web applications, nearly removing the need for MS office when you can do most of the same basic things with Google Docs.

It's looking like 2000 to 2009 to be a transition decade to the real future we all expected to come in the 21st century, that should come about in 2010.

Predictions are for suckers so here is what will happen in 2008; Projection based upon based history of technology;

In 2008 more useless rubbish with a design obsolescence and over priced, manufactured in china by really poor people getting paid next to nothing and consumed by a dwindling and over taxed western middle class.

Basically, more plastic stuff that will cost you a bundle, excite you for a while then it will become another piece of plastic trash.

So whatever technology you buy in 2008 for a bunch of money you could have waited and bought in 2009 for next to nothing once the true value of the product if factored into the market.

So basically technology in 2008 will be the same ol' story at 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004...1990, 1989, 1988...1960... and so on.

Wow, maybe they will make an iPod with 500GB of storage or 1TB of storage or .... who cares.

Maybe they will make a new iPhone that does basically the same damned thing is a slightly different way...WOW!

How how about a new media format...BluRay or HD-DVD getting replaced by Even High Def-DVD or UltraBluRay so that you can go buy all 2,000 of your movies all over again.

Or how about a 256 inch TV as thin as wallpaper so you can just like it like a stamp and paste it to your living room wall. Not sure why you care about how big the TV is or how skinny it is...but OK!

Or how about a new 8 gigahertz 128 bit 16 core laptop with 1TB of RAM that can actually run Windows Vista! So we can actually get those WORD documents typed up 0.0018 secs faster so we can do even more work for our boss! YEAH!!!

Or maybe it will be a software revolution this year. Software with a 512 page license agreement that requires you to give Microsoft your first born child in sacrifice to be able to open open-source file formats in Office.

Or how about 40x Broadband speed internet so you can sit there staring at your web browser with nothing to do because the entire internet downloaded in 0.56 secs and filled up all your RAID storage.

Or perhaps Linux will actually get a clue this year and make proper interface for the computing masses that they have been promising for as long as MS has promised a proper OS upgrade.

So yeah... it looks like 2008 will shape up just like every other year when it comes to technology. More expensive stuff that becomes digital garbage in a shorter and shorter life cycle.

MP3 sales will slow down as the market continues to be saturated. HDTV sales will increase up until and through next christmas. Next christmas will see better sales of HD-DVD and BLU-RAY players with the prices of HD-DVD getting down to the cost of decent DVD players now. Blockbuster will declare bankruptcy. Vista SP1 will not fix the key problems that people have with Vista- namely presentation, most people don't know what the heck; 'do you want to allow program X to change the registry' means. Nor does the average user know how to disable user access controls. DDR3 ram will stay high in cost, 45 NM processors will be met with mixed results due mostly to the extra ram cost. E-books will actually get a segment of the market finally but won't have much traction. Most people will wait until the last minute to get their coupon for a DTV antennae, which may result in a slight delay of several months for the analog cut off. Increased HDTV's will decrease market for online streaming video services even if hooked up to a computer by default. Netflix will raise prices slightly. PS3 will fall to $299 mid-year and $250 by next Christmas for their low end models to match HD-DVD players falling to $150 mid-year and some $99 units for Christmas. HD-VMD disks won't make any headway in America but gain part of the European market. Neither HD or bluray will come out ahead. Toshiba will announce a four-layered HD-disk by next Christmas' price wars but it will back fire as compounded read errors and backwards compatibility with older HD models takes headlines. Better privacy standards will be enacted in terms of how marketers use and sell private information but not in terms of the government. Patent trolls will increase and judicial system still won't see the damage they cause, nor the parallel with earlier patent sharks. Fears of China's ownership of security technologies will cause some reaction from the government that will be highly criticized.
More of course but there's a few heh
dislexic