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Some Predictions for 2009

With no fixed topic or approach here are some global predictions for 2009. Comments and discussion more than welcome

  1. America likes the Nokia N97 and it sells in average to good numbers. More amazingly, it gets good write ups in all the US gadget and tech blogs.
  2. Windows XP gets yet another reprieve and continues to be legally available for distributors.
  3. Apple don’t release a Tablet PC or netbook-sized MacBook, but they will stop the production of the iPod Classic, leaving the Shuffle, Nano and Touch as the standalone players.
  4. Robbie doesn’t rejoin Take That.
  5. There will just as much VC money going around, but thanks to the economic conditions the cash will go to companies with proven revenue streams, that have prototypes working online with established (if small) user bases. The ‘me-too’ companies won’t be given the time of day.
  6. All those me-too companies will focus on generating their own revenue for small teams, thus keeping them profitable and enriching the web 2.0 space; and forcing the VC invested companies to keep innovating.
  7. There will be a major scandal involving an ‘A-list’ blogger. Whether it’s financial, moral, or of the flesh, I don’t know, but the old guard media will delight in turning on the blogger and use him or her as a lightning rod for all the ills of the internet.
  8. Twitter does not get sold, not that it was really on the marketplace anyway. FriendFeed on the other hand is probably going to get a seven figure buy-out.
  9. One of the big names (Digg or Facebook spring to mind here, but I’m sure there are others) will be forced into a sale thanks to the drag-along clause in their VC arrangement.
  10. Attendance at SXSW interactive is down on last year, there will be less blow-out parties, but everyone who attends will have a much better time, make more contacts, and do more business because of less crowding. oh and at least ten people will stay over after Interactive, attend SXSW Music, and make a worthwhile contribution to the content/distribution debate from outside the music/media bubble.
  11. Turkey win the Eurovision Song Contest.
  12. The UK chooses an unknown female singer for Eurovision, probably aged under 20, with no experience of performing beyond the local pub. Thanks to a really good song, the UK finishes in the top half of the table (ie 12th or above), potentially as high as 5th… even 12th would be regarded as a good result going on previous form.
  13. Dr Brian Cox presents the 2009 Royal Institute Christmas Lecture.
  14. Nobody assassinates Barack Obama.
  15. We never see CNN’s ‘hologram’ technology again.
  16. While there isn’t a General Election in the UK, Gordon Brown has a visit from the old guard in the middle of the night and Harriet Harman becomes Prime Minister in time for the Labour Party Conference. Brown retains his role as Leader of the Labour Party.
  17. The Labour Party in Scotland loose a lot of ground in the European elections, and all the blame is placed on Iain Gray. With no effective opposition, the SNP continue their plan by announcing an Independence referendum on St Andrews Day 2009.
  18. A UK National Newspaper will stop print publishing (They may try and continue an internet only operation).
  19. James Packer and Consolidated Media Holdings buy The Inquisitr.

And yes, I know there are no personal predictions in there – to be honest I know what I want to do this year, but there’s a point where sharing everything on the Web isn’t the wisest course of action. To find out if they come true, you’ll just need to keep reading through the next 12 months.

January 2, 2009; Daily Links;

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Comments

One Response to “Some Predictions for 2009”

  1. David on January 4th, 2009 17:15

    Whilst I too have predicted good things for the N97 ‘good write ups in all the US gadget and tech blogs’ is just madness in the face of their Apple lunacy.

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