2009 Predictions

Posted on by Michael

fireworksHappy New Year! About an hour ago there was a roar outside that sounded like a 747 driving down my quiet residential street. It was the constant and combined blasts of thousands of fireworks going off 10 to 15 miles away at the Las Vegas Strip. It was so loud that it could even be heard over the phone. My buddy David and I were discussing our predictions for 2009. At this late hour I can’t remember all of them, but here are a few to get the ball rolling. Jump in and add your own predictions down in the comments…

Computers:

I believe that even with all of the denial from Jobs, Apple will release a tablet netbook-type computer this year AND that it will have a touch screen and no keyboard. 9 to 5 Mac is expecting an iPad to be announced at Mac World in a few weeks but was describing it as just a large version of the iPod touch. But if that one turns out to be just a PMP, I still think there will be another device this year that is a tablet mac real computer.

I think it’s also very plausible that there will be a touchscreen iMac in 2009.

I’ve already made claims about 2009 being the year of cheap flash ram. I’ll go out on a limb and say sub-$100 512GB thumb drives by the end of the year.

TV / Home Video:

This one is a rebuttal to a prediction I read earlier. Some dude predicted that Bluray would peak and start to die this year. I disagree on that one – it will continue to strengthen. David asked “what price will Hollywood BD’s get down to this year?” I say $15 if you buy them the first week they come out at Best Buy. David says “$7, that’s the only way they’ll compete”.  I’m not feeling the $7 thing but most titles having a regular retail price of $20.

David is predicting new TV that are also NAS boxes.  So that’s a TV that has a hard drive in it – with services like ftp, torrent, itunes server, media player, etc.

I predict that TiVo will come out with a new box that acts as a central DVR for your whole house – it will be the one with the hard drive.  They’ll also have satellite boxes that don’t contain hard drives and will ONLY stream media from that main box.  OH AND they’ll have the gull to charge a monthly fee for those extra boxes even though they are providing no real service on them – as they will only stream the data from one box I own to another box I own.

Food:

David is claiming that we will see new hybrid breeds of fruit. Something along the lines of a banana mixed with a strawberry. The idea is his but the example is mine.

Life predictions and other randomness:

I will, in 2009, eventually get an iPhone app finished and for sale on the app store.

Fox and Warner Brothers will come to an agreement and Watchmen WILL be released but not on March 6th – more likely the 4th of July weekend.

That’s all I got in me tonight.  Get your predictions going here in the comments…

UPDATE:

Something weird happened with our comment system, possibly relating to a leap year date problem – not sure.  Anyway we lost a couple of comments on this post. So here are Shannon’s predictions for 2009:

  • I will change my hair color.
  • 4 of our friends will get engaged.
  • 3 of our friends will get pregnant.
  • My mother will paint some room in her house.
  • Your father will buy a powerbook.
  • Satellite radio technology will include the ability to rewind a song on the radio and purchase music via your car stereo.
  • Big 80’s hair will make a come back.

10 thoughts on “2009 Predictions”

  1. * more advertising everywhere… in real-space not just e-space. Governments will take more advertising from business corporations to fund goverment expenses.
    * significant demise of Windows Desktop OS — expect regular Linux bulk sales, primarily via Ubuntu gaining still — first hearing about more school deployments and you'll hear more about the operating system get into large corporate environment. It'll take some momentum but something significant will happen with OpenOffice… either major fork and deployment or significant improvements. Tipping point for OpenOffice will get close if not tip.
    * expect to see even more Linux options inside or along side OS X, as well as more Linux into more appliances (cars, radios, televisions, stereo amps, etc.)
    * long black clothing… the new black (again); shiny grey (as a color fad) will again take some popularity (2Q '09) but will be replaced by boring muted red/purples by 3Q.

  2. Predictions;

    I will change my hair color at some point this year.
    Four of our friends will become engaged
    Three of our friends will get knocked up (someone is probably pregnant now)
    Your dad will buy a Powerbook
    My mom will paint some room in her house
    Satellite radio will introduce a feature that allows you to purchase music and email playlists at the push of a button (in your car)

  3. Shannon Prediction update.
    3 of our 4 friends are now engaged
    Satellite radio now interacts with iTunes. Not sure how it works but you can send data from your car.

  4. The photo you have used in this article is mine. You have used my image without my permission and violated my rights and violated the DMCA. Go out and take your own damn photos and stop stealing from others. Please remove this image from your site immediately.
    Thank you.
    Allen Rockwell

    1. Actually, INAL but I think you are misunderstanding the DMCA. The DMCA makes it illegal to break an encryption scheme. It is about breaking encryption. I found this photo online, unencrypted and no copyright information was anywhere on it or on the page where I found it.

      I have removed the photo immediately upon getting your request. However, next time maybe try a less agro approach and it will get you just as far.

  5. Michael,
    Thanks for deleting the image, I appreciate your cooperation.

    First of all … an image is copyrighted the moment it is created and is automatic. Copyright information and/or encryption is not required for an image to be copyrighted. The rule is: if you did not take the image or license the image, you CANNOT use it. That is the law.

    Also, the DMCA covers copyright of all types of media AND includes provisions for protection against breaking of encryption. Basically it's a rewrite of the original copyright statute bringing the old statute into the digital era.

    Also.. if you look at the page where you "found" (I say "stole") that image, the very first line of the description is "All images © Allen Rockwell 2008"
    Also under "additional information" for the image it says "© All rights reserve"

    For your reference, this is the page where you stole the image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/allenrockwell/315583…

    You see… that's why I got all "agro" in my approach. I'm a little tired of chasing down people that steal my hard work and use it for their own personal, financial and/or professional gain. I'm sure you can understand that. can't you?

    Thanks again for your cooperation.

    Allen

    1. Sure I understand – which is why I removed it. But I believe that honey goes further than vinegar. And maybe on a small blog like mine you'd get more out of a photo credit than you would from public comments calling me a thief.

      I don't remember where I got it. I certainly don't remember it saying (c) anything on the page. But it was new years eve night so who knows. I can assure you there has been no financial gain off of this post with it's 129 views and no ad clicks.

      I will say this… A sure fire way to prevent your photos from being 'stolen' is to not post them out on the internet. Because anything on the net is going to be copied by someone.

  6. Mr. Rockwell, did you ever once think about the Tower or the fireworks in your picture? Ever think of the people who put so much work and effort into building the tower and packaging up and firing off those fireworks, just so you could capture a moment and use it for your own monetary gain? Where is the fairness there? What did you pay to those people? They didnt fire off $250,00 worth of fireworks, or build a multi million dollar tower in Vegas so you could make money off of it. Why dont you take it down a notch buddy, go fly an imaginary plane on your computer and relax.

  7. Gosh that's a really good point Tommy!

    I wonder if Mr Rockwell has a signed location release from the Stratosphere? Since it is the focus of the picture I'd guess that the resort might feel that he's violating THEIR rights.

    No – no, I'm just joshing you Allen. I'm sure you're within your rights to sell a photo of a private building. It's all good man. Moved on.

  8. Allen Rockwell is a tool. He googles himself in hopes of finding someone that has found even a remote interest in his illegal work. Then he wikipedias "DMCA" just prior to trolling blogs around the internets. What kind of douchebag puts illegal photos on flickr and then googles to see who is using them? He's lucky this blogger is a nice guy, if it were me. I would have left the picture on and then photoshopped my middle finger with a caption that read "F you Allen Rockwell U SUCK!" or something like that. In fact, maybe I will do exactly that and then post it on this blog.

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