5 Predictions Of Things To Come In 2008

The year is almost through. Eggnog’s running low. The once fresh-cut Douglas-firs placed inside millions of homes over the holidays are running dry and approaching their final demise. Bottles of bubbly are being prepped and placed on standby for the global celebration to happen next week for the new calendar’s arrival.

So I think it’s only fitting to follow convention here and offer up a few wise words in anticipation of suspected things to come in the wide world of Web 2.0 before the proverbial first cork is popped.

Sure, the practice of prediction can be a treacherous thing, what with the predictor’s venture(s) being all but blind to the future. Guessing games are always a gamble. But having known what has come before, perhaps I can intuit a few items that we may see come to fruition by the close of 2008. Here goes.

Prediction #1: Both regularly produced blogs and podcasts will decrease in number significantly and remaining favorites will grow in influence dramatically.

Okay, so right now we’re pretty much overloaded with blogs and podcasts, correct? Way too much to handle if we’re occupied with work or school or family or friends. And though there’s plenty of good stuff out there, there’s even more not-so-good stuff. My sense is that a great many unwanteds will go offline in the next year. Sure, the weeding out of the weak has already begun, but count on the number of retirees to increase substantially. Substantially.

On the other hand, blogs and podcasts will gain far broader authority and respect. As a result, the possibility for more original reporting will be in evidence.

Also, me thinks celebrities – the types found on-screen and on-stage - will suddenly find an odd and collective urge to start blogging. The reason: to try (and subsequently fail to) beat back the bad PR with some one-on-one with their fans - and enemies.

Prediction #2: Pro video boom!

Some notable folk around the blogosphere have went on record recently as calling 2007 the year of online video. Wait ‘til they see what’s to follow. While one can currently manage to view television and engaging podcasts on the Web with mostly decent quality standards, 2008 will be the span in which all of the good content of the video space and all the great technologies fresh out of developers’ hands come together to swim in sweet utopian bliss. Or close to it, anyway.

Yes, choices will be good, and choices will be many. You’ll be free to watch what you want when you want via your PC or your television (by way of TiVo or Apple TV-like devices) with far less hassle. Mind you, in some cases, DRM will be present in the lovely picture I paint, but chances are it won’t be Sony-like DRM. Probably. Hopefully.

Prediction #3: Google will nab that 700MHz spectrum.

I know I’m going out on a limb here somewhat, but that’s how these things go. I suspect this will occur. Why? As I postulated in previous pieces published here at Profy (that looks like a lotta P’s, huh?), Google’s got major incentive to go through with a serious bid at the FCC auction to be held in late January ’08. The company’s growing like mad, and has big plans for, well, many things, and it could damn well put that bit of power-packin’ spectrum to use. A big multi-billion-dollar buy wouldn’t leave the tech giant cash strapped, anyway. It’d have plenty of green to keep paying the maintenance bills, and chances are it would recoup much of the dough with another hefty leap in that ticker price its been showboating on the NASDAQ.

Prediction #4: Steve Jobs will find his iTunes universe challenged…

…by forces – primarily Amazon – so much so that the iPod finally reaches that elusive saturation point. Consumers will begin to seriously notice other options on the market that provide advantages Apple does not. And because of that, the company stock will slow its ascent.

The Apple trend won’t reverse, of course. It’s got massive momentum. Only, it will not longer be seen as a superior source than, say, Microsoft (Zune #2’s a good release, folks) or Nokia (not their music store; their media phones). People have thus far chosen the iPod-iTunes bundle in part because it just frickin’ works like none other. Well, however belatedly, consumers will being to really see that other options “just work” now, too.

Prediction #5: The developing world will join the fray considerably more in terms of technological advancement.

That not only means investment in Africa’s tech sector will get noted in the news more often. We’ll also see some rather interesting things come about as far as usage – mostly mobile - is concerned. The landscapes in such parts of the globe won’t be akin to our own here in the US. But the swiftness with which things progress in those regions may well astonish us. The result will be a snowball effect of investment. The potential of the African continent and its peoples will finally be realized. The same could be possible for China (the rural outreaches), India (again, the rural outreaches), and places elsewhere.