Once upon a time, I ended my newsletter, the Weekly Wambooli Salad, with an annual prediction of things to coming in the new year. Generally, I was wrong, but that didn’t stop me. So here I go again!
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\nThe big issue for everyone in 2009 is the global economic downturn. As usual, governments will do the utmost wrong thing to correct it, which will merely prolong it. Regardless of their efforts, we will survive. The computer industry, on the other hand, may not survive intact.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0I predict you’ll see some software and hardware companies bite the dirt or get bought out. While a down economy doesn’t destroy companies on its own, it does expose weaker companies. I won’t go out on a limb and say which companies will bite it.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Windows 7 will appear, but no telling when. My guess is that it will be beer without the bubbles as it looks a lot like Windows Vista. In fact, some wags may dub it “Windows Vista Plus.” Regardless, if Microsoft can make it work faster, it may catch on. I don’t expect massive upgrades, however. People really like Windows XP and will hang on to those PCs for as long as possible.<\/p>\n
\u2022 You’ll see a new release of Microsoft Office. I’ll call it Office 2010, though it may have a cute moniker like Office Pink or something silly. It will be a generic Office update, with the applications continuing to use the Ribbon interface of Office 2007. As with Windows 7, I don’t expect to see a lot of upgrades.<\/p>\n
\u2022 On the Apple front, I expect to see new iMacs and perhaps an iPhone Nano in January, though that’s no secret. I would like to see a Mac Tablet. That would be cool. I’m also planning on seeing a new iPhone generation in August, perhaps with real GPS and video chat. That would be something.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The bonus side of the economic downturn will be a drop in prices. Expect to see deep discounts on hardware and software if the recession deepens and companies are eager to move product.<\/p>\n
Next year at this time I’ll review these predictions, but feel free to ridicule them now if you like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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