Mid Year 2006 Predictions
Back when I first started this Blog up I made a few 2006 Predictions. I was searching for a reference to something I thought I wrote back then and saw this. Well it is the eve of August and I thought I would revisted those predictions and maybe make a few more.
1) Vista will be released. Well maybe not by the end of the year, but soon enough. Not sure what the impact on web development will be, but I have not installed it anywhere as of yet.
2) Convergance - Yes definately. Picture, Video and MP3 phones are everywhere. Oh and don't forget your Free Ringtones.
3) Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are really duking it out. I think Microsoft is starting to get some momentum from the Search Engine Marketing crowd. Google has messed up their results and their PayPer Click program. Yahoo has bungled so much so far this year.
There are some rumblings that Microsoft will buy Yahoo. I hope this is true and MSN/Live and Yahoo can all just merge together. This would make things much easier on my SEO work.
4) Search will be bigger. Not sure this is taking hold. It is still a major player, but maybe users are getting a little ambivolent or search is just ubiquitus for us at this point, but it is not real exciting right now.
5) Traditional Media will become moot. If that had not already happened anyway. Now PodCasts are getting huge traction, and I doubt it will be long before Video PodCast become the norm. I can just see the business headlines in the next 18 months, ABC buys new Video Podcasting comapny XYZ for 500 million. You mark my words.
6) China and India will be big. Not much new in the way of news there, but yes they are big.
7) I just finished a 12 week diet plan and lost 57 lbs. I am now back to my college weight! I am taking the next 2 weeks off from the formal diet structure. I have to head out of town for a week and I want to give my body a little physical recoup time. But I hope to be back to High School weight by mid-September.
What I have seen gaining huge traction this year is AJAX. I have written very little about it up to this point and it will probably stay that way. I think it is starting to loose its luster (Sorry Wally). My main two interactions with it in production have been on Live.com and MSN Adcenter. Both are tragically slow and do not work very well in many browsers. This is not acceptable for regular users who are not early adopters of technologies. AJAX, while a nice concept has a very long road to run before it can be of any use in production, at least the way many developers are trying to force it.
As for NC State's title hopes, well everyone is 0-0 right now.