Let me just jump straight into them. No prologue.
- Rick Perry: Yes, he tops my list. I will vote for him if, and that’s a big Texas sized if – he promises to stop massacring English language. I think we need to have TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) requirement not just for foreign student visas but also presidential candidates.
- Nokia Windows Phone: Nokia will unseat Apple and Android and the prophecy of the chosen one will come true. After all jumping from a burning platform to the winning new platform was “clearly” the wisest move. I was hoping to become CEO of a troubled company in EMEA one day, those hopes are now dashed for me and my fellow Americans.
- Social Security Number goes Social: Whatever little privacy I have, I will voluntarily keep losing. I predict a new website called www.shareyourSSN.com – real friends just don’t “Like” your status and “Share” the latest embarrassing article they read on Social News Reader, they share their Social Security Numbers in exchange for upto 10% off on most purchases made on your behalf by your friends. There is already very little “security” in social security so we will just end up with Social Numbers!
- A Cloud in Every Box: You will be able to buy private clouds and install them, wire them up, hire consultants to integrate them, upgrade them, tune them – it will be amazing. The future will look just like the past except you will have to be willing to spend more and suspend your new learned concepts of what a cloud is supposed to be – no hardware, no software, automatic upgrades. The marketing budgets and ad campaigns will allow you to be able to say phrases like “We just bought a cloud and installed in our data center for $4M” or “We should have the cloud installed and working in 6 weeks” without feeling like you need therapy or medication.
- Doctors with iPads: Yes, the super educated will finally catch up to 4 year olds when it comes to willingness to use technology to get their “homework” done. As Vinnie points out in the Rise of Digital Doctor, doctors are getting more comfortable with technology. Given the pressure from insurance companies, government incentives and patients – we will finally get closer to having an experience in a doctor’s office that is more automated than the DMV!
Happy New Year!