TG #18: 2008 Review and 2009 Predictions
January 5, 2009 – 5:00 amThis special year-end edition of Tweak and Geek has us talking about some highlights from 2008 geek news, and making some predictions about 2009.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (25.4MB)
Highlights of 2008
- Bill Gates Steps down as chairman of Microsoft (Steve Ballmer throws a chair: Â http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,1000000097,39216371,00.htm )
- Vista’s horrible (?) failure. (Windows 7 announced this summer:Â http://blog.pricegrabber.com/blogbytes/2008/06/30/windows-7-announced/)
- First real internet presidential election — but what happened to Obama’s Tweeting? (Obama’s Twitter Feed:Â http://twitter.com/BarackObama )
- Google releases the Chrome browser (Google chrome comic book:Â http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/small_00.html)
- The end of SG1 (movies) and Atlantis ending announced — Stargate Worlds in Trouble http://days-since-cheyenne-mountain-employees-have-been-paid.com/ — is this the end of a beloved franchise?
- iPhone 3G (2.0) / iTunes App Store
- The Rise of the solid state drive
- Microtransactions enter mainstream online gaming; the subscription model now has competition
- Economy go boom. Stock up on canned food and ammo.
- Large Hadron Collider controversy, but the world didn’t end!
Pat and Craig’s 10 Geek Predictions for 2009
- Announcement of Successor to Xbox 360 (not release, ANNOUNCEMENT)
- Windows 7 is released. People will be excited, but there won’t be much different from Vista
- Next Generation of Amazon Kindle (A rumor:Â http://news.cnet.com/amazons-kindle-2-leaked/)
- iPhone Forks: 32GB 3G (agreed), Low-end iphone “nano” (we disagree)
- iTunes offers a majority DRM Free (or at least expands it)
- Facebook “jumps the shark”
- Yahoo will finally be bought by someone
- WoW will reach 13M users and get around to announcing the next expansion, but they won’t release the expansion in 2009
- 64 bit processors will outsell 32 bit and 64 bit OS will struggle for ascendancy (but, based on the current state, might not make it)
- Web 2.0 goes mainstream. Example: Check out this post about Brightkite vs Twitter
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Miscellaneous Notes:
It is the distant future… the year two…thousand!Â
You listen to World IV cast NOW!!!
http://www.worldiv.com/blog/?p=788Â
Great LHC Joke – this says it all about 2008:
8 Responses to “TG #18: 2008 Review and 2009 Predictions”
I’m not a fan of having my Twitter repost to Facebook. I mean, I guess if it works for you guys that’s fine. I think I use my Twitter vs. Facebook status a little differently, despite the fact that most of my Twitter followers are also Facebook friends. I’m more apt to be snarky on Twitter – maybe because there are less people listening? But, if I were to make the same comment on Facebook it could be more controversial or create a different kind of response than I’d anticipate (or want!) Maybe that’s just proof Facebook has jumped the shark. I also think the format of the 2 updates is different such that it wouldn’t work for me to copy my status. i.e. Facebook starts with NAME is blah blah blah, so you have to talk in 3rd person or make a qualifier and Twitter just lets you spout off.
Oh, and Facebook seems to be the new way for people to find you despite whether you want them to or not. I’ve heard of collections agencies using Facebook to track down people. I was contacted through Facebook by the National Science Foundation about a grant I worked under in 2004. It was just for a survey but still, that was kind of a unexpected email to get.
By Laurie on Jan 5, 2009
I have not ventured into the world of twitter….yet. But I agree with Facebook “jumping the shark”. Heck….I finally joined up. Now I am at a point where I added some folks early on, that yes I do know them….but do I really want them reading the things I post. I’ve trimmed down the list a bit in recent weeks. So if you’re reading this and you know me and you are no longer on my facebook list…oops!
I have found facebook to be very handy for getting in touch with a lot of folks that I long ago lost touch with, for that alone it is great!
-Shades
And one more thing…I took the advice of the first .5 podcast and repeated the smoking of a ham and turkey on new years eve. It was outstanding!
By ShadesOfGrey on Jan 6, 2009
Smoked turkey AND ham? Yum!
By Craig on Jan 7, 2009
Oh yeah! Ham goes on the top rack, turkey underneath! As the ham cooks, it drips and bastes the turkey.
Leaving me to only have to add wood chips & coals & water to the pan….and consume adult beverages.
By ShadesOfGrey on Jan 8, 2009
Windows Vista is evil…every time a copy of windows vista is sold and unleashed on the world, a little boy in Ethiopia has to die.
Vista made me turn to Linux…do you have any idea how dirty that makes me feel?
I love Bill Gates. I thought Bill Gates was my daddy for so long, and then Vista had to come up between us…now I have a Vista into that dark sucking hole he calls a soul.
Oh Bill…I still love you, I’m just bitter because none of my old toys’ drivers got updated to for Vista. Don’t hate me.
I have mixed feelings about Facebook and have yet to be obsessed with Twitter, but I suspect its my destiny.
Good show guys. Hadron be thy name.
By brandon on Jan 9, 2009
I am drooling!
By Craig on Jan 9, 2009
I started using Twitter because I was shamed into it by the hosts of Tweak & Geek. I use it for things I find mildly interesting that don’t really warrant a full blog post on my site. Then I joined FB because I wased shamed into it by the hosts of Tweak & Geek and my wife. I like the idea of FB, but its implementation is lacking, and developing for it seems to be a chore.
I’m OK with some duplication. I wrote an extension to my blog software that tweets when I post a new entry; the tweet is little more than the title of the article with a link. Facebook’s status and Twitter’s “What are you doing?” seem very similar to me, so I’d my Tweets duplicated on FB. I like how Craig’s FB posts “Craig is Twittering:” each time he tweets, but that particular app seems to be down and as such unavailable to new users such as myself. Someday I’ll break down and develop my own app for it…
By Michael Swindler on Jan 12, 2009