At the new year dawns, it’s time for me to look forward. What wonders will the tech world bestow upon us mortals? What fantasies are to be realized? And will the warranties be worthy? It’s prediction time.

Acknowledging that I am terrible at making predictions, I’ll take another stab. My predictions for 2016 were dismal. I actually think I cursed the Clinton campaign. Anyway:

Old School Revival

Everything old is new again. Can it happen in the high tech industry? You bet!

People are always in search of quality and sometimes shiny-new is awful. Witness the explosion of the vinyl record industry. It’s crazy! Even books are coming back, though not specifically what I write. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a resurge in good ol’ desktop computers and traditional laptops. Maybe even brick-and-mortar stores will see an upturn? It’s a long-shot, but these things move in cycles. The worst part about the digital life is that it lacks a soul; maybe the old stuff is worthy again?

Apple Continues Its Downward Spiral

I don’t expect anything exciting from Apple this year. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Perhaps they’ll do a no-bezel display on the iPhone, but that’s just copying Samsung. The Macintosh product line will continue to stagnate. Tim Cook’s helmsmanship has been dreadful. He’s a likeable guy, but Apple is rotting.

Foldable Mobile Technology

I believe Samsung will be the first to debut folding LCD touchscreen technology. This won’t just be a curved screen, which they’ve already done (but not on a phone yet, and that’s coming too). No, Samsung will introduce a mobile device that folds closed and open with a seamless LCD touchscreen display. Look for a Galaxy Tab Folding Edition or something similar.

Annual Windows and Office Updates

Microsoft will copy Apple with annual deliveries of Windows and Office updates. Unlike Apple, however, I predict that Microsoft updates be paid subscriptions. The nerds will howl, but they’ll pay. The rest of mankind just won’t update until it’s painfully necessary to do so. This change might also portend a new Office document format, which would prompt the masses to update, if not now then eventually.

The Beginning of the End of Cable TV

With direct delivery of content, Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu are proving that the middleman, Cable TV, is just overhead you don’t need to pay. I see all the networks providing individual content apps, free of the requirement of a Cable TV subscription to use them. Even local TV will get in on the act — if they expect to survive.

The downside of this prediction is that Cable TV operators, who also provide Internet service, may change from an unlimited data/flat fee model to a per-gigabyte delivery charge. That fee would suck, especially because everyone is used to not paying per gigabyte for broadband Internet. If that change is suggested, I expect the Feds to come in and prevent it.

Out-there prediction: None

I’d love to pontificate on politics or the world situation, but enough people waste time on that topic. What I’d enjoy seeing would be some excitement in high tech. It’s just so boring! Where’s the “Next Big Thing”? All I see is more of the same, and I’m just tired of it. Yawn. Maybe something new will surprise me? I’ll let you know in a year.