Ok ok, everyone’s talking about social media, it’s gone mainstream, there’s plenty of parliamentary petitions all over the world that take Facebook more seriously than they should, and we’re all tired of it. Still, social media is here to stay. At least for 2009.
Highlights:
“Friend Synchronization Tools”, as well as “Tools to reduce noice, deal with RSS overload“
“Doors are going to close all over the social web. The money didn’t come the way people thought it would”. Interesting, but I doubt it’s going to happen. Money always flows to the latest trends that everyone talks about, especially in uncertain times.
“B2B goes social media” Yes, this is something I would bet on. (If I had any money, of course.)
“Google will buy Twitter“
“Mobile marketing takes off”. I wish.
“Live: as it happens content”. Now, this would be interesting.
“People will really become the media”
Final Burp: Social media will not dictate trends, it will deliver them.
“Several people have mentioned that the recession almost seems like a blessing because they are now forced to readjust their values” I heard that, too. People who are saying this have not been hit by the recession. Those who have are readjusting their meals and clothes, not their values.
“Lipstick sales indicate economic recession”.
Lots of other statements, but none of them are really predictions: they’re either acknowledgments of what’s already happening (“People want to know where their products come from” Nah, really?) or generic declarations that could it’d be hard to prove right or wrong, pretty much like horoscopes (“It’s going to be trendy to dress dowdy, with faded colors and melancholy looks”. Already is, always was, always will be for someone. Emo, anyone?)
Final Burp: I’m experiencing a new sense of respect towards astrologists…
“Content creators are layering a multitude of media into entertainment for simulatenous consumption and engagement. For example, “Little big planet” users are gamers, social networkers and content creators…” This confirms entertainment is the industry we should all try to be in, and that lots of marketers should look at as the new outlet for their products.
From TrendsSpotting, some predictions on the tech industry. Highlights:
“Palm will surprise everyone at CES…Nova will be good”
“Windows 7 will get a better reception than Vista” (Ok, this is a joke. How could it not?)
“Microsoft is stronger than ever”
“Yahoo will be bought [...] Disney would be the most logical choice”
“Wireless charging” That’s something an iPhone could use!
Final Burp: A lot of people consider Yahoo doomed. Should it resurrect, the path out of failure will tell a lot about the relationship between technology and entertainment.
This first presentation offers a wide range of views on the mobile industry, like:
“Modelling Apple’s AppStore and iTunes services (Microsoft, Nokia Ovi, RIM)”. Ok, this is an easy one.
“Big Guns in online retailing eye new opportunities in mobile”. Ok. How about offline retailing? That’s where mobile can play a unique role.
“The Always-Connected lifestyle calls for MOSOSO” (=Mobile Social Solutions). The question is: when will they become mainstream? (btw, it won’t happen thanks to the iPhone. No, it won’t)
“These devices [...] will serve as a remote control to many of our electronic touch points, such as: purchasing retail items through scanning, turning on our cars/GPS systems, videconferencing with our friends…”. Now we’re talking. But they’re going to do more than that. (And btw, why would people want to videoconference with friends? No, seriously)
Final Burp: All the coming-up breakthrough innovations predicted for 2009 have already been experimented with in 2008. How about doing some good old hardware innovation, and increase the battery life now that the same phones that were originally designed to talk are being used to browse the web and show videos?
