2010 was a big year for the tech industry. New markets became relevant, Facebook reminded us no one is anonymous, web technologies were given a second look, and TV was rethought.
5. Old Spice “I’m On A Horse” campaign finds a new way to promote.
The campaign had legs from the beginning. Remember this?
And this ..
Old Spice later used social media sites like Twitter and YouTube to communicate with fans and respond with quick witted and hilarious responses from questions asked on Twitter.
4. Apple ignores Flash With It’s iPad
Why? Apple’s reasoning is they were not pleased with the stability and performance of Flash as a browser plugin. The new HTML5 spec that is currently being ratified provides some overlap to Flash. While I somewhat agree with Apple and it’s stance against Flash on the web, Flash still has it’s place – just not where we are used to it living. I dive a little deeper in my blog post from earlier in 2010, “Adobe’s Flash in the Pan?”.
3. Success of AppleTV, Roku, Netflix, XBox Live and GoogleTV show hopes of a new “Cable Killer” market.
A la carte television may be the wave of the next few years. Content providers still have to jump on board. Top television network executives are slow to jump on what they say is just another trend. Increasing success of these new Internet TV boxes show what consumers are hungry for. An interesting wrench we may see in 2011; the conflict between ISPs that are also cable providers. Ahem, Comcast,Time Warner, DirectTV and Dish.
2. Facebook’s Privacy Woes Bring Privacy Into The Spotlight
Facebook’s “opt-in” approach to privacy struck a nerve with the paranoid. Rightly so, Facebook makes more money by sharing more information with advertisers for targeted ads. It is beginning to be a tug-of-war between a large percentage of users and Facebook’s own business model. A study found that 60% of Facebook users were thinking about quitting the service. – IT security firm, Sophos PC World Article – May 2010 2011 should show this struggle continue.
1. Emerging Tablet market grows wings – and soars
Apple didn’t invent the market, but they made it relevant. Apple’s own sales estimates were 10 million units in 2010. I don’t think they were far off. Sales numbers have not been released quite yet but I expect close to 10-12 million. The iPad gained a ton of ground early in the tablet race but more competition is coming. Watch next year’s CES in January 2011 for a ton of new tablets to make their appearance as well.
