Buzz Out Loud Lounge forum: 2009 Predictions

Was the year OS X, XP and the iPod came out.
And as Jason Calacanis pointed out on twit, down times are a good time to save costs and focus on R&D rather than expansion so you have a head start when the economy is back up. So I think we should still see good developments.

2009 - A
The year something terrible happens to cloud computing: "Something happen to GMAIL? No, that's impossible." As soon as everyone has this frame of mind, boom goes the dynamite, and we all get a lesson in redundancy.

2009 - B
Starcraft 2 brings world peace, and no employees are trampled on opening day because if Blizzard is smart, it will be able to be digitally downloaded.

2009 - C
Linux and Open Source lay claim to 10% of enterprise: Let's face it our work computers are getting old. Open Office is getting awesome, and Windows is getting cold. I'm looking for a big push by companies and school in Linux and Open Software.

2009 - D
Verizon will try so hard to push out an Iphone competitor they will get hemorrhoids, and the Blackberry Storm will develop an exploding battery or another such devastating flaw as a result of it's quick release.

2009 - E
Gas Prices will hit record lows, and people will start getting a false sense of security, and I will be able to sell my SUV before prices return to a constant level of $2.50 per gallon.

2009 - F
Microsoft will finally eliminate support for Internet Explorer 6, and IT departments in large companies would finally start to update browser software, but in doing so, the cost of upgrading in man hours would be equivalent to rolling out a new operating system for a few of the companies leading to the implementation of 2009-C (see above)

2009 - G
Thousands of Florida residents will be scammed into buying additions devices to assure their televisions will continue to work.

2009 - H
Twitter is purchased by facebook, twitter fanbase rebels, starts Tweeter and promptly goes bankrupt. Facebook appears to have won, but doesn't get away with changing the architecture, and just plain looses money for the next decade, while supporting the existing style and habits of twitter existing users.

All is well with the cosmos,
BM

My predictions from last year for 2008:

1. Wiis will still be difficult to find, so will non half-***ed games for that platform.
Yep, I called that

2. Touch screen iMac....yeah, not going to happen.
check plus for me

3. DVD will continue to be the dominant physical media format over HD-DVD and BlueRay. Torrent pirates everywhere will continue to laugh at those loyal to a physical format.
I'm awesome

4. Prince will stop being a dumb*** and will allow his likeness and music to be heard and seen everywhere for free. He will then appear at half time of next years Super Bowl and rock our socks off and cure world hunger AT THE SAME TIME!
damn, people are still hungry

5. The Zune will still be a laughable product. Creative Nomad II 4 LIFE!
can I call'em or what?

6. A lesser known game developer will come out with a Guitar Hero like game which will actually require some musical skill and develop that talent.
I believe there is a computer game that does this

7. 3G iPhone. Not all predictions can be funny.
a blind dog could have predicted this

8. No more DRM. Doesn't really matter since everyone who's been on the tubes has already downloaded all the songs that have every existed in the world for free.
ooooh, so close. so close

9. Tiered Internet, Molly goes postal.
meh, 7 outta 10 ain't bad

10. Skynet switches to solid state drives, one step closer to world domination.
Oh it's in the process my friends

1. Windows 7 will be pretty good

2. iPhone will hit 32GB

3. Australian Internet Filter will get canned

4. Blu Ray players under AU$250

5. Zune gets released in Australia

6. Gmail comes out of BETA

I think that all of those should come true, however i think that the iPhone will not get upped to 32GB because of the topsy-turvy that Apple is going to go through when Steve Jobs leaves.

The Australian Net Filter is going to be supported by Telstra (to say "stick it" to the government) and we will be under its awful wrath until someone comes and kicks their behinds.

Windows 7 will be "terrible" until we get new hardware, but microsoft won't be able to recover from the PR hit they took over Vista and they will become and smaller company. (Woo!)

I think Windows 7 will be received well if Microsoft takes the PR into their own hands and stop letting a competitor define them (which Microsoft is slowly starting to do). Windows Vista kind of failed not just because it was bad, but because Microsoft never told their basic home users that it was good.

My thoughts anyhow

iTunes will get rid of DRM by June.

Even I don't think it will actually happen, but if it did happen in 2009, I'd be a financial seer for the ages (or more correctly, the guy who actually mentioned this on his blog would be a seer for the ages)

http://www.thedeal.com/dealscape/2008/12/could_the_stars_be_aligning_fo.php

"As the New York Times Co. is negotiating with lenders over its debt, speculation has been floating around the blogosphere, pushing the premise that Google Inc. should acquire the beleaguered Gray Lady. The thesis (or, rumor, as some would put it) has been around since the beginning of the year, with SpliceToday on Thursday reintroducing the idea of the unorthodox union of the stalwart of old media with the scion of new media."

This takeover makes little direct sense on an operating basis but on a _cultural_ and political basis Brin and Page might be compelled to "save" the Times from Rupert Murdoch.

I am agnostic as to whether Murdoch or the Sulzbergers would make a better steward for the Times.

However there is a large segment of the Times readership (to say nothing of its editors and reporters) that would as soon jump in the Hudson as to have the Times pass to Murdoch.

Thats why I said "save"

But I totally agree that buying the Times or _any_ newspaper at this point is fool hardy from an economic stand point.

But the Times might not be looked at in a purely financial light.

Jonathan Coulton and Amanda French make a duet album for online and has a good chance of getting a greedy publisher to make them a offer but they refuse and sell there music online and make more then they could at the publisher.

Starcraft 2 and Diablo III (two seperate predictions here) underwhelm due to so much publicity and to little public hands on (or the wrong focus groups)

Runescape gets into next years GOOGLE Zitegiest (bad spelling will continue for Mementh)

AlaCart Pricing will not come to cable TV's but Package pricing will either be released or announced (cable employee here @ comcast but nothing inside knowlage tells me anything yet this is just what I hope)

Tivo comes out on Comcast!!!! Either as a new box type to rent from Comcast or as a upgradeable option that can be rented seperatly.
(saw a photo from one of the test areas of a remote for a Comcast Tivo remote)

Gas goes under $1.00 and the economy either stabalizes or starts to get better.


more later.

The moment the economy gets better the gas price will shoot back up. Especially with like lack of investment in production due to the price plummet and difficulties in getting loans, these threaten oil production increases to fall below the rate of production decline in established sites! Falling production on a growing economy, would mean back to over $4.

if gas goes back up then people will start spending less again..

literally it can't imho.. the REAL market for CONSUMERS was kiled byt the gas price imho (stupid person here)