Ten predictions for 2010 – because “I told you so” is fun!
This post over at ReadWriteWeb had me agreeing, disagreeing and partly wondering “who cares about that in 2010?!”. But instead of going over every single point (the original post is quite long already), I’ll quickly list my very own predictions for 2o10:
1. Browsers won’t fully replace operating systems; not in 2010 – not after that. The reason is simple; while netbooks are handy little versions of a notebook to use web applications with and browse the Internet on the go, you’ll always want to be able to run programs on a computer, to e.g. play games, watch movies/series (full quality, not streamed!) or use photo editing software. Google will most likely cover a niche with it’s Chrome OS, because it’s handy for certain people, who spend all of their “computer-time” online. But seriously; if you can have a rich OS offering a multitude of options we’ve grown used to over the years instead, why take less?
2. Twitter won’t manage to find an effective way of monetarizing their traffic. Maybe they will eventually. But not in 2010. They are presented with almost the same problems as Facebook was/is. Basically there are two services they can offer: targeted ads or premium services. Premium services, whatever they may be, will just be something that’s “nice to have”. The core functionality of Twitter is simple, that’s why everyone understands it at the first glance and manages to jump into it. That’s also what makes it fun, what’s responsible for its success and all that people really need. Targeted ads on the other hand might be the more promising option in the long run. Still, in that regard Twitter will have to offer something that is different than everything you can already do using third party applications, something people won’t quickly grow “blind” to and something advertisers will want to pay for instead of just pumping more into SEM.
3. Apple will warm up to Microsoft. Google taking its fair share of the mobile market with Nexus One and Android OS? Apple will have to do something about this and making sure they get the technology to offer a valuable cell phone for business clients would be a good step in the right direction.
4. Google Wave will become more popular as people discover vauluable uses for it.
5. Facebook user / traffic development will stall as new social networks emerge which will be more adapted to mobile users and address privacy concerns in a more intuitive way.
6. E-book sales will soar next year and the market will develop far beyond those used through Amazon Kindle (which on top became available outside the US). As smartphones use apps like Stanza to view e-books and newspaper content without putting a strain on your eyes while reading, more and more people will lose the habbit of wanting to read books and newspapers on paper.
7. Sharing information in the “cloud” will rise to a new level. Privacy concerns too.
8. An app or service within the app store will be released that will truly help finding apps that match the user’s needs (hopefully!).
9. People will truly start using mobile phones to pay while shopping.
10. The iTablet will be the most innovative device in 2010.
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Girl Goes Tech (GGT) is about a 26-year-old, female tech-addict exploring her geeky side and writing about social media, mobile trends and applications.