As we put 2011 to bed, a lot of technologies are vying for that
virtual award podium of our memory: Which ones will not be
forgotten in 2012?
I�m B.C.
with the Top 5 Tech All Stars of 2011 - the products
defined the year in tech -- all strong in CNET�s reviews ratings,
but even more importantly, they defined their category or set a
path that we�ll be on for some time.
Let�s see where they pointed
us.
#5 is the Amazon Kindle Fire.
Finally someone paid attention to
what�s sells gear these days: What it does, not what it is.
Amazon, as well as Barnes & Noble, gave us really good tablets
we can afford and carry without a murse.
We don�t know exactly
how well the new Kindle Fire will survive some skeptical early
reviews, but I�m pretty sure the idea of a smaller tablet that is
good enpough is here to stay.
#4 Macbook Air.
Laptops changed with the success of the MBA
this year.
The Air just seemed to be what we always wanted a
laptop to be: Light, thin, instant on and with lonngggg battery life.
It even diverts some people away from their iPad.
MBA sales
are growing 4 times faster than PC sales and even 2.5 times as
fast as hot Mac sales.
And competitors from the WinTel world
don�t really have anything to answer it yet.
#3 is the Pad 2: Part of the reason we have our #5 Kindle Fire at
all is because Apple established this sort of Valley of Death for
everything else.
iPad2 is arguably Apple�s most successful
product when measured in terms of market dominance and while
its price can be a lot to bite off, there�s a lot to chew on once you
do.
iPad2 is simply the best tablet out there and its singular
success helped keep the entire sector from become a flash in
the pan.
#2 iPhone 4S.
After getting drubbed for being too evolutionary,
the 4S went on to be the best selling new iPhone ever and the
highest rated by CNET.
From iOS5 to Siri to a camera that
obviates cameras, this phone kept Apple top of mind even as the
Android guys took over on sales momentum.
Need more
convincing?
It�s the first iPhone to earn a CNET EC.
:
The #1 Tech all Star of 2011 goes to a product that is also
accepting on behalf of its category: The Motorola Droid Razr.
CNET�s best rated smartphone of the year.
Our best rated
smartphone EVER.
Our best rated phone ever.
Our best rated
product of 2011.
It just doesn�t end.
Motorola came out of
nowhere with this guy and in the process emblemized the rise of
Android and of the superphone category in a year when
smartphones in general were the most competitive field in
consumer tech.
They�ve earned a swig off my bottle.
Don�t miss my several other year end Top 5�s for 2011 that put
the year in tech in perspective.
They�re all waiting at
top5.cnet.com.
I�m B.C.
