A few interesting predictions for 2008
Lots of people are doing their yearly predictions at the moment and two that really caught me, which I would like to share here.
First is Louis Gray, a blog I have started reading some time ago. His 10 Predictions for 2008 rock, especially as they are really clear, and sometimes weird.
First of all, Google will trump TechMeme and FeedHeads and I agree with him in the sense that Google Reader is really powerful. Second, Facebook will buy Digg … fitting. But he argues an all stock transaction, which I somehow do not believe because Microsofts investment was something where they did not care for the valuation. Of course it could be that Digg just sells for something like a billion, which sounds cool on paper. :) He argues that Twitter will add video and photo support, which I don’t buy into, based on what Evan Williams said at Le Web 3, meaning to keep it simple. Number 6 is cool in that one browser will embed ad-blocking, which would lead to a major shift in internet advertising. But yeah, things that are possible will be done.
The other one is Cringely with Always Certain, Sometimes Correct. He always has some great ones. First of all, I just got a Fujitsu Siemens Activity Media Center for a kick ass price and yes, it’s a PC, but it sits at your TV and doesn’t feel like one. Stuff like this is the future. Google will bid billions on the 700-Mhz spectrum and then trade the rights to Sprint or much cooler, buy Sprint :). Steve Ballmer will quit! Apple will launch the replacement of the mouse and a sub-notebook. Wow. Also Apple will start licensing OS X (the thing running on the iPhone) to others. Not Mac OS X, so not the desktop version mind you. His biggest is number 13. He argues that Apple will build into OS X the Windows API, with a license from Microsoft, meaning Windows apps run inside OS X, not virtual ala Parallels or something. Really.
You will find a lot more predictions online but these are some really interesting one. Have a good 2008 :)