12/17/07
1. 2007’s Top Tech Fashion Statement the Apple iPhone is Released
Apple’s horde of iClones ponied up a ton of money per unit for this phone. My daughter was one of them (the money was mine). Suddenly media stars like angel turned demon Lindsay Lohan couldn’t be seen without an iPhone in their hand. So was it worth the money? As a phone, I don’t think so. But for teenagers like my daughter and Apple addicts everywhere it was the must have device. As for me, I’ll stick to my Blackberry.
2. Leopard and Vista are Released
Windows released Vista and Apple released Leopard. Both systems hit the streets late and both really weren’t ready to release when they were put on the shelves. So which is best? I use both, and each has their upsides and downsides. I’d call this a tie, but I prefer linux anyway.
3. Microsoft Releases the New Zune
The new Zune is a winner. Microsoft’s initial move into iPod land may have been feeble, but the 80 gig Zune is very nice. Will the Zune supplant the iPod overnight? No. However it does stand up well to the iPod and will likely take market share from Apple.
4. WII Thunders To The Top In Sales
What’s not to love about the WII? It’s easy to play and way more fun than any of the other systems currently available. Throughout 2007 it has gained so much sales momentum that stores can’t keep them in stock—a just reward for a job well done.
5. Halo 3
Who has the most popular house in the neighborhood with kids? The one that got Halo 3 first. Kids in my neighborhood literally flocked to Johnny’s house to take turns playing Halo 3. Halo 3 is a major winner. Gamers love it so much that Halo is driving sales of Xboxes way up. Even a crusty old guy like me likes it.
6. Xbox Meltdown
The day before I was going to buy my daughter an Xbox for Christmas, news that some Xboxes were having major overheating problems hit the streets. That stopped me in my tracks—for about 5 minutes. Turns out everyone was buying them anyway, people who had them still loved them, and I wanted, I mean my daughter wanted Halo 3. So like a good little lemming I ran out, got an Xbox and started scouring the net for runarounds to the overheating problems.
7. Safari for Windows
This one came as a real surprise to me. Like a lot of third party software running under Vista, Safari does have a few problems from time to time, but it is blazing fast and much easier to look at than either IE 7 or Firefox. Once the Apple crew works out a few more of the Vista/Safari kinks, Microsoft and Firefox will have a steep uphill climb to develop browsers that match Safari. That said, it’s only fair that I point out many a review pans Safari for Windows.
8. Dragon Naturally Speaking Actually Works!
You have to admire Nuance’s tenacity. They have been developing speech to text software for quite a few years now, and at least from my experience, creating a product that actually saved time has been a difficult go. Well with version 9 they’ve finally done it. It took me a couple of days to get the hang of it, but Naturally Speaking 9 really does work, saves me time, and produces drafts with fewer errors than I would have had to fix when typing. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
9. Nav Systems Become Mainstream
My God suddenly these things are everywhere! I never knew so many people had trouble remembering where the neighborhood 7-11 is. I thought it was just me. The proliferation of navigation systems in autos is astounding. Of course, being a hold out kind of guy, I haven’t purchased one for my vehicles. But then I do have one on my Blackberry.
10. The Death of Old TVs
Yesteryear’s clunker tvs are rapidly moving towards extinction. I’ve even moved up to HDTV. The picture is better and the format is much better, but the thing I like the best is the new tvs take up so much less room, and don’t require a forklift to move around.
Apple’s horde of iClones ponied up a ton of money per unit for this phone. My daughter was one of them (the money was mine). Suddenly media stars like angel turned demon Lindsay Lohan couldn’t be seen without an iPhone in their hand. So was it worth the money? As a phone, I don’t think so. But for teenagers like my daughter and Apple addicts everywhere it was the must have device. As for me, I’ll stick to my Blackberry.
2. Leopard and Vista are Released
Windows released Vista and Apple released Leopard. Both systems hit the streets late and both really weren’t ready to release when they were put on the shelves. So which is best? I use both, and each has their upsides and downsides. I’d call this a tie, but I prefer linux anyway.
3. Microsoft Releases the New Zune
The new Zune is a winner. Microsoft’s initial move into iPod land may have been feeble, but the 80 gig Zune is very nice. Will the Zune supplant the iPod overnight? No. However it does stand up well to the iPod and will likely take market share from Apple.
4. WII Thunders To The Top In Sales
What’s not to love about the WII? It’s easy to play and way more fun than any of the other systems currently available. Throughout 2007 it has gained so much sales momentum that stores can’t keep them in stock—a just reward for a job well done.
5. Halo 3
Who has the most popular house in the neighborhood with kids? The one that got Halo 3 first. Kids in my neighborhood literally flocked to Johnny’s house to take turns playing Halo 3. Halo 3 is a major winner. Gamers love it so much that Halo is driving sales of Xboxes way up. Even a crusty old guy like me likes it.
6. Xbox Meltdown
The day before I was going to buy my daughter an Xbox for Christmas, news that some Xboxes were having major overheating problems hit the streets. That stopped me in my tracks—for about 5 minutes. Turns out everyone was buying them anyway, people who had them still loved them, and I wanted, I mean my daughter wanted Halo 3. So like a good little lemming I ran out, got an Xbox and started scouring the net for runarounds to the overheating problems.
7. Safari for Windows
This one came as a real surprise to me. Like a lot of third party software running under Vista, Safari does have a few problems from time to time, but it is blazing fast and much easier to look at than either IE 7 or Firefox. Once the Apple crew works out a few more of the Vista/Safari kinks, Microsoft and Firefox will have a steep uphill climb to develop browsers that match Safari. That said, it’s only fair that I point out many a review pans Safari for Windows.
8. Dragon Naturally Speaking Actually Works!
You have to admire Nuance’s tenacity. They have been developing speech to text software for quite a few years now, and at least from my experience, creating a product that actually saved time has been a difficult go. Well with version 9 they’ve finally done it. It took me a couple of days to get the hang of it, but Naturally Speaking 9 really does work, saves me time, and produces drafts with fewer errors than I would have had to fix when typing. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
9. Nav Systems Become Mainstream
My God suddenly these things are everywhere! I never knew so many people had trouble remembering where the neighborhood 7-11 is. I thought it was just me. The proliferation of navigation systems in autos is astounding. Of course, being a hold out kind of guy, I haven’t purchased one for my vehicles. But then I do have one on my Blackberry.
10. The Death of Old TVs
Yesteryear’s clunker tvs are rapidly moving towards extinction. I’ve even moved up to HDTV. The picture is better and the format is much better, but the thing I like the best is the new tvs take up so much less room, and don’t require a forklift to move around.
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