On New Year’s Eve 1999 I was at work in the client services area trying to check computer systems to make sure nothing blew up and we had done all the Y2K patching that we needed to do in order for our computer systems to survive. We all know 10 years later that Y2K came and went with a yawn and the rest of the decade started off amazing with all the technical innovations that were to come. Below is a list of some of them and how much I use them as part of my everyday life:
1. The IPhone
Their is no question that the IPhone has become the smart phone of choice for me. It has become a daily part of my life for making phone calls, running applications and even browsing the web on the go. I use the Iphone regularly even to listen to music.
2.0 LCD Technology
On my computer desk and on my wife’s computer desk we both have 22inch LCD monitors. In past if you bought a tube monitor it would have taken have a desk to put them on. In my living room I have a 40 Inch LCD TV. Imagine having a 42Inch Tube TV. IT would be huge.
The other key besides the size is the price. LCD technology is dropping by the day and they have become very affordable.
3.0 Twitter
Twitter has become of the most important mediums in my social media basket. I use Twitter on a daily basis at home and on the go. I have met many friends, associates and potential clients on Twitter. I often use Twitter to keep up on what is going on in the world. News travels quick on Twitter.
4.0 Digital Camera Technology
When the decade started, digital camera’s had just hit the 3 Mega Pixel point. Today I shoot with a Kodak M380 which is a 10.2 Mega Pixel point and shoot camera with a 5 times Optical Zoom. The amazing part is I paid well under 200 dollars for it.
6.0 High Speed Internet
Hight speed Internet has exploded in the last decade. It has become cheaper and faster. Currently in Toronto you can get DSL speeds of up to 6Meg per second and cable up to 50 Meg per second. Currently I have Rogers cable at 25 Meg per second. This is amazing when it was not that long ago we were all on dial-up.
7.0 Google
In the last 10 years Google has gone from a tiny internet startup site to King of the net. I now use Google for search, email, social networking, picture storage and so on. Their is no question Google has popularized the Internet as well as made it easier for people to use. Google has become the King of search and has made a profit doing it.
8.0 Friend Feed
Friend Feed is a social media service that has amazing real time discussion capabilities. It also aggregates content to and from other services. For a long time, Friend Feed was the service which most of the geeks hung out on. Their real time capabilities were so good that Facebook has bough them recently and integrated real time feed capabilities into it’s service.
9.0 Facebook
Facebook has turned into one of the biggest services in the last 10 years. Facebook has become the communication point for many friends, colleagues and social media people. Most companies and news sources are also now on Facebook. It has become too large a community to ignore.
10.0 Twit.TV
In 2005 Tech TV in the States closed down and Leo Laporte created the Twit.TV podcast network. Twit.tv has podcasts currently on every topic from Google to Home Theater. Currently I am listening to 5 to 6 podcasts from Leo’s network on a weekly basis. The podcasts help make my commute to and from work relaxing, productive and more informative.
I know their are many more innovations in the last decade. It is really an exiting time to be working in Social Media/Technology. Let’s hope the next Decade is just as good as the last one.
