Posts Tagged ‘Predictions’

The Apple iPad will start shipping in about 3 months and the tech industry is buzzing. Many people were disappointed after the Steve Jobs presentation because they expected a new wizbang technology that just didn’t seem to be there. Others have been cautiously expectant.

I think the iPad will be very successful and Apple will ship 8 million units in 2010 for the following reasons:

1. The iPad will jump all over the Kindle market and greatly expand the mobile reader market
2. The iPad will open up new types of mobile interactive media. It will finally create the first “electronic book” that we have been expecting for years
3. We’re going to see a lot of activity from the developer community in the form of expanded iPhone apps and new iPad applications. People are already coming up with ideas for the next great games.

So there you have it, my prediction for the future of the iPad. In case you’re wondering, I did have a prediction on the iPhone and I was largely wrong. The biggest thing I learned from the iPhone launch was that Apple addresses weakness very quickly.

How do you think the Apple iPad will fare? Will it be wildly successful like the iPhone or fizzle like a Mac Book Air that slides into the envelope of oblivion? Once you blog your prediction, leave a comment here so we can follow up in a few months. Or, if you’re not blogging yet, leave a comment with your prediction and key reason(s).

Are you in?

Photo credit: Apple Computer

2009 was full of twists and turns. Big deals, big plays, and big hearts, on all fronts. These are my predictions for 2010.

1) Users learn to own their stuff
As we continue to see companies like Twitter and Facebook grow like crazy and start monetizing at every step, we’re going to realize that they are growing because of OUR content. Are you leveraging your own content, whether for business use, charity, or for you own personal purposes?

2) Twitter will become the number one news service
Users will organize to be the first to cover global news and be able to bubble that information up so that emergency, government, and traditional news outlets can jump on the news faster.

3) Augmented Reality marketing is going to be HUGE
Augmented Reality is a relatively new technology for displaying image content and tools in a live context. For example, Yelp, a restaurant/hotel rating site, allows you to use your smart phone to look through its camera and see an overlay of ratings information tied to your current location. The video below has an example of me using Yelp in my small town of Santa Paula, CA.

4) CEO’s from Fortune 500 companies will start to get fired for not having a strong social media strategy.
We saw this in 1997 when some slow executives decided to “wait out” this whole Internet thing.

5) Spiritual networks will become prominent and widespread
There are many folks who don’t prescribe to a particular religion but are extremely spiritual. These networks will do things like support the ill, be activist for social causes, and push for legislation (whether progressive or conservative). Take a look at spiritjump.org (@spiritjump on Twitter) as an example of it’s potential.

6) In the boxing world, Manny Pacquiao will beat Floyd Mayweather in a close split decision.

7) In politics, Immigration Reform takes center stage and the associated hoopla makes health care reform look like a cake walk. By the end of it, tens of thousands of awesome and deserving students will be on the road to conditional permanent residency.

8) The top 5 “TV” shows will be primarily seen via computer screens.

9) Video bloggers from different disciplines are going to crush it in 2010 and people will be talking about movie deals, instead of book deals.

10) One or more of my videos will hit one million views on YouTube and I’ll get a cameo role on someone’s rock video.