My 2012 Predictions

Hello?? Is this this on?

Moses, it’s been a while since I posted here, but I thought I’d at least get some thoughts down as how my predictions for 2011 went and to share what might come out in 2012.

So here are my ideas for 2011:

• More mobile – who really cares what the latest computer is? Everyone is buzzing about phones. Between the fast revisions, portability and dropping price, the promise of capable computing in your pocket (as opposed to the office/den) is appealing to everyone
• Social everything – we’ve seen how powerful Facebook has become, and it’s not going to weaken anytime in the future. There might be some ripples with Diaspora or other new services, but if they don’t use existing services as a rooting point, they are not going anywhere. To make change, you’ll have to convince a planet wide mob.
• Bandwidth battles – net neutrality will come to a head again and there is going to be more available, but the providers are going to find more ways to charge for it
• Text will still rule – even though video and audio will be easier to capture and transmit, people will still post and communicate using letters.
• Education might actually get the hint that social and mobile compute is something that should be given consideration – well I can hope

So how did I do?

• More mobile – I think I got this one pretty good. Mobile is eating everyone’s lunch as we go into 2012
• Social everything – Occupy, Arab Spring and many more history changing events were enabled by our social tools. If people thought that social was only for loners and geeks, they should think again. I got this one.
• Bandwidth battles – Almost. In Canada, we got a half solution, but we also are offered far more wireline based (including Wifi) than before.
• Text will still rule – yup, got that one as well. txt messaging has only got bigger.
• Education might actually get the hint that social and mobile compute is something that should be given consideration – Not being on the ground there, I don’t know how I didn’t but I don’t think any real traction was made there.

So what are my thoughts for 2012?

• Even more mobile – cheaper and smarter, but not at the same time
• IP Soap Opera will have some manner of climax – the litigation over IP and patents is embarrassing for everyone involved. I have a hunch though that something is going to wake the litigants up (including Apple) to this fact.
• Social everything – more than ever before, it will be the glue that knits together separate experiences.
• Social nothing – our social tools will become old… allowing them to get really useful.
• Alternative interfaces – Between Siri and Kinect, I’m sure there is going to be some significant traction in the realm of data entry into systems that are increasingly ubiquitous.

So, hopefully I’ll post again next year to see how I did, but in the mean time, I’m still hoping to change this blog into one that is more photography oriented. The problem is of course time. Between work, family, and starting a business, there hasn’t really been time to reflect. I hope that will change, but if not. I’m still sharing all manner of thoughts on edtech, teaching, tech in general and photography on G+, Facebook, and Twitter.

Happy Holidays everyone!