Computer World decided to go out on a limb and throw out what they think are their top 10 trends for 2008 in Personal Technology. They believe everything gets intelligent, social, cheap, mobile and wireless. While those are some good guesses… here are their top ten predictions:
10. The year of cell phone TV – yeah, not so much in the US
9. The year of haptic feedback – good prediction but haptic feedback has been huge for years
8. The year of social everything – can that really be called a prediction?
7. The year of reading on-screen – Kindle won’t spur this but perhaps the green revolution might
6. The year of location, location, location – very good prediction – don’t buy a car with Nav built-in!
5. The year of multi-touch – early adopter next year, widespread 2009
4. The year of hyperconnectivity – I’m there baby!
3. The year of the home robot – I think this will be on next year’s list too…
2. The year of free Internet access – not if big business can stop it
1. The year of flash-based superportables – this is a niche market and will be for early adopters next year
Overall the list isn’t bad but a continuation of emerging trends over the past couple of years (haptic feedback, social everything, location, hyperconnectivity) and a few products I’m sure the editors want (flash-based superportables and home robots).