Everybody loves a good listicle at this time of year so I have decided to put together one of my own.
Trends to watch out for in 2017:
1. 3D printing is finally going to become affordable. This also means that it is going to open a whole new debate regarding file sharing, DRM and piracy laws.
2. Amazon and Google will continue to devour everything in front of them. Their power and authority will increase exponentially at the expense of sovereign governments.
3. Apple will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the very first iPhone. But without a major new product launch in 2017 their market share may soon begin to slide.
4. Facebook is heading towards the slippery slope and may just descend into oblivion. As a source of fake news and only showing paid posts it just ain’t the platform that the kids are looking for.
5. The death knell sounds for your debit and credit cards. With a swipe of the screen, payments are going to be made straight from your smartphone, online or in store there will be no need to reach for your plastic.
6. The convergence of virtual and high street shops. There will no longer be a battle between the online and physical store. To survive all shops will be a mixture of both, as integrated player within an holistic retail ecosystem.
7. The de-cluttering of apps and communication tools. One login and one location to view all of your email, text messages, WhatsApp, to do lists and much much more.
8. “Blockchain” will be the buzzword to watch out for this year. It will also be extending to much more than just Bitcoin.
Some things that are not going to change.
1. Smartphone batteries will still be shockingly bad. People all over the world will continue to be perplexed why they can’t make one that gets you through the day.
2. Self-Driving Cars are not going to be hitting the streets of Dublin anytime soon.
3. Cyber security will remain an issue. The vulnerable will still be duped and the unfortunate will be hacked.
4. Big data is still getting bigger and companies will continue to grapple with how to make sense of it all. .
5. This is still a beautiful video but we are a good few years away yet from making it a reality.
A Day Made of Glass
Words and phrases that will hopefully be gone:
- Listicle — The concept works, it is just a horribly annoying word.
- Breaking the internet — The Kardashians sure do have a lot to answer for.
- Meme — It sounds too much like “Meh!”.
- Future Proof — This translates to: “it should be good for about 2 years, probably less”.
- Life hacks — If you want to see annoying listicles, just google that term.
Finally,
Here at the Virtual Wigwam of the Digital Chief, we wish you a very happy new year and hopefully 2017 is going to be a great one.
Keep it digital,
Mark
p.s. One final thing that I did not mention above. Technology and automation really is changing the requirements for work. It is time to face up to this fact and have a proper debate about what needs to be done about it.
Hint: The answer does not lie in reversing automation for the simple sake of providing jobs.
What we will be hearing more about is the argument for UBI (Universal Basic Income). To get an idea of what UBI is all about there has been some coverage about it in the media: Irish Times case for UBI
For a longer read but very worthwhile, here is an argument that relates the case for UBI directly to the huge advances in technology that has brought us to where we are today: Technological Inheritance
p.p.s. Speaking of memes, the Joe Biden collection were certainly up there with the best of 2016. A few of my favourites:
And to leave the very last word to my pal Blunty.
