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Top 10 predictions for 2009


At his annual “Predictions” dinner, hosted at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel last month, futurologist Mark Anderson offered some encouraging news for 2009.

 


Mark Anderson is a self-styled futurologist and a popular commentator on modern technology trends. For many, his prognoses are considered to be useful indicators, the accuracy of his predictions has been rated at over 90% and he is reported to count Bill Gates and Michael Dell amongst the subscribers to his newsletter. Of course, that has not stopped others from dismissing his pronouncements as high-powered brain candy.

At his annual SNS (Strategic News Service) dinner in New York last month, Anderson delivered some positive messages for 2009. He explained how market psychology is a powerful force and said that the current economic downturn was being fuelled by relentless messages of fear. His prediction for the New Year was that a feeling of optimism would begin to return, stating: “In 2009, our psychology will improve, even if our circumstances will get worse.”

So as the year gets underway, we thought it would be fun to look at Anderson’s top ten tips for the coming twelve months – some are more quirky than others. Controversially, he has overlooked “the continuation of excellent proactive IT support from Delta Comtech”, but this may just be seen as a given.

Top ten predictions

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A big year for big screen applications

Anderson predicts that now we all have our flat screen TVs, in 2009 we’ll be investing in new ways to use them such as video games, movies etc. “It will all be about what you can do for $100 to add value.”

Smarter mobile phone applications

This year won’t be about slimmer mobile phones, but smarter phone applications.

A reality check for the Chinese market

Anderson says that as China suffers the effects of the global downturn, its domestic issues will change the way it is viewed by Western economies. “There are already 15,000 riots a year in China,” Anderson said. “The next thing is that people will get shot.”

Flash-based computing set to sore

“This year we’ll see the first computer with no moving parts,” said Anderson as he forecast the rise of flash-memory computing. This trend would see everybody benefit from a longer PC shelf life and the added pressure this would place on the software industry to develop products that last over a longer term.

More interest in ‘wall computing’

According to Anderson, these ultra slim computer solutions will soon be appearing in corporate conference rooms, providing innovative new ways to collaborate in the workplace.

Carry-along computers

Compact and lightweight carry-along webbooks/netbooks are to become the most commonly used computer.

LTE (Long Term Evolution)

This will be the preferred technology for 4G. (LTE is the name given to a project within the Third Generation Partnership Project to improve the European mobile phone standard to cope with future technology evolutions).

Broadband for the less developed world

These regions of our planet will finally see a widespread availability of broadband. “Villages in Africa and elsewhere will get broadband and telephony at the same time,” said Anderson.

Voice recognition will finally work

After years of false hope and broken promises, Anderson predicts that we will soon be interacting freely with the automated voice at the end of the phone line. “We will finally have continuous speech with no training,” he said.

Birth of the Internet Assistant

Forget the PA, this is your IA. Anderson paints a picture of a personal online concierge that you can put to work via your phone by saying “I’m going to France next week”. Your IA will then book a flight, rent a hire car before finding a hotel and booking a table at your favourite restaurant.

 

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