The Change

Its hard to imagine that barely ten years ago we didn’t have any Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube,  iPhone or even a phone for that matter. Much of the decade has been shaped by the internet and the next decade too will see the same sort of enormous change.

It was in 2001 when we got our first phone. A landline phone connection for which we had to wait for weeks. Within the next few years we have had a much greater number of mobile phones. Computers and other gadgets have become essential. Times are changing. And we got keep up with the speed at which everything is happening.

What people generally consider is that change will occur at the same pace it happened. Technology changes exponentially. There is a great pace at which everything grows now and what happened in the first decade of the millenium might happen in just a few years.

The rate of adopting new ideas is doubling each day. Both biology and technology are similar. They are both evolutionary processes.  They create a capability and use that capability to bring on the next stage. With better interaction and communication this growth is bound to accelerate.

It was barely a few years ago when I first sent an e-mail. Now mail, instant messages etc are a part of life. A few days ago I made a list of the trends which I’d like to see in the year 2010. These are impending changes. Even if they don’t occur in 2010, they eventually will…

Tech Trends I’d like to see in 2010

There are quite a few things which I’d like to see happening in the year 2010, when it comes to gadgets, computers and the Internet. A few of these can also seem as if I’m expecting too much. But at the pace everything is happening, I’d say nothing is impossible.

• E-Commerce – Internet can thrive if its users are able to make money out of it. Facilities similar to Google’s Adsense and Adwords will become more prominent.
• mCommerce – Mobile Payment avenues like Airtel’s mChek Reliance’s mPay are already present and I guess in 2010 these will become more effective and useful.
• Online Retail – This is one feature which is yet to create a buzz in India. But I guess 2010 has a lot in store for online retail. Currently sites like flipkart.com are available in India for purchase of books.
• Videos and Internet TV – There’ll be a huge rise in videos created and circulated throughout the internet. Movies, TV Programmes and Soundtracks made specially for Internet audiences will be in vogue.
• Social Network and APIs – 2009 saw a huge rise in social network users and applications centered around these networks. Apps made for mobile devices will see a steep rise with smartphones combined with their App Stores.
• Real-Time Communication and Collaboration -Google Wave and Twitter are already reducing the time barrier which used to exist. With more apps and features available in the future, real-time communication and collaboration would become more easier and relevant.
• Smartbooks – A device falling between smartphones and netbooks. To be sold through mobile operators, these will be of huge use to all users. Emergence of Smartbooks might even kill the entire netbooks category.
• Mobile Operator Wars – Once Mobile Number Portability is available in India it’ll create huge price wars between mobile operators thereby benefiting users.
• Storage – Wider usage of Flash Drives and other solid state drives would be seen. Availability of these storage devices at an affordable level would probably mean the death of existing rotating drives like CDs and DVDs.

Update : One more feature I’ve always wanted. I hope this becomes feasible in 2010.

• Status Updates to the Caller on mobile phones – Whenever someone calls me, they either hear the boring ring or some song as a caller tune. Instead I’d like some feature through which I can tell my status to my callers.