Ten Failed Tech Trends for 2005
@ 2005/12/29We're guilty of hype.
But so is everyone else who writes about technology. Most of us gravitate to writing about tech because we think it's cool. So we're starry-eyed, hoping that the shiny new technology that's unwrapped for us by the PR departments of tech companies really will be the next killer product. We're dreamers, but we gravitate from one shiny bauble of a dream to the next one, rarely looking back to see which baubles become treasures and what morphs into dross.
The science fiction writer, Theodore Sturgeon, who when confronted with the notion that 90% of science fiction is crud, famously replied that "90% of everything is crud." That little sound bite has become known as Sturgeon's Revelation. Case's corollary to Sturgeon's Revelation is that 90% of technology trend predictions are wrong. We're the first to admit that we can be wrong, too. So in the spirit of fun and mea culpa, we look at some trends that seemed very real a year ago. Note that these aren't all trends we predicted, but they were all written about by starry-eyed technology writers like us. Let's take a look at them, shall we?
But so is everyone else who writes about technology. Most of us gravitate to writing about tech because we think it's cool. So we're starry-eyed, hoping that the shiny new technology that's unwrapped for us by the PR departments of tech companies really will be the next killer product. We're dreamers, but we gravitate from one shiny bauble of a dream to the next one, rarely looking back to see which baubles become treasures and what morphs into dross.
The science fiction writer, Theodore Sturgeon, who when confronted with the notion that 90% of science fiction is crud, famously replied that "90% of everything is crud." That little sound bite has become known as Sturgeon's Revelation. Case's corollary to Sturgeon's Revelation is that 90% of technology trend predictions are wrong. We're the first to admit that we can be wrong, too. So in the spirit of fun and mea culpa, we look at some trends that seemed very real a year ago. Note that these aren't all trends we predicted, but they were all written about by starry-eyed technology writers like us. Let's take a look at them, shall we?
Regarding the iPod: it's still a rare sight in several parts of the world, such as Eastern Europe. I only know one person who has one, but dozens, who posess different players (iRiver, Nomad, etc.) Getting an iPod at a resonable price is impossible in my country.