Some tech things we don't want to see in 2009
-
SINGAPORE - By now, you’ve probably read more than your fair share of predictions on the next big thing in technology for 2009. Such predictions bore me — usually because they point out the obvious or are too vague to be of any use. As an alternative of sorts, we tell you what we’d rather NOT see in 2009.
1. Another iPhone killer
You know the drill. Mobile phone manufacturer releases a model with a touchscreen. The phone might even have a mini keyboard to one-up the Apple iPhone’s lack of tactile buttons. And there’s also a mobile applications store that you can (gasp) download apps from.
Do we really need an iPhone killer? How about an environmentally-friendly mobile phone made of sustainable materials instead? Or, a phone that runs off solar energy and doesn’t need to be charged? Or, a waterproof phone that doesn’t become junk when it’s dropped into the toilet bowl (drunk revellers, you know what I’m talking about)?
Why ape, people? Innovate.
2. Cameras with even more megapixels
For digital cameras, the increase in image resolution comes as a certainty every year.
But the average prosumer who buys a DSLR won’t be printing banners the size of buildings anytime soon. And astronomically-higher megapixel counts would mean that photos take up more storage space and take a much longer time to process on our computers.
There are better things to improve, camera makers.
Sure, we love our DSLRs, but despite higher image resolutions and new features (the smile-detection feature knocks our pants off), they’re still so complex to operate. Even after you’ve read the (thick) camera manual, you still need to learn how to tweak the settings on a camera to suit ambient lighting. Trying to remember the button layout is a nightmare when all you want is to get that desired shot or visual effect.
Then, there are those darned menus on that small built-in LCD that you have to go through to set your preferences and manage your pictures. Form factors have largely stayed unchanged, too.
What we want are cameras that take the guesswork out of taking great pictures. We don’t mind if they take a bit of bulk off them, too, and make them operate silently.
3. Everything moves to the ‘cloud’
We’re becoming more reliant on the Internet for storing our data and applications. Internet-based services, dubbed cloud computing in geek-speak, have grown increasingly sophisticated.
Now, you can craft a spreadsheet or edit a photo in a browser. And you don’t even need to save it on your computer; it’s stored (somewhere) on a server. As we embrace such services, we’re handing over our personal data and along with it, our privacy, to a third party. Doesn’t that scare you?
In Dec 2006, an earthquake near Taiwan severed undersea cables and disrupted Internet connectivity in China, Japan and Singapore, among other Asian countries. Everything ground to a halt as Internet traffic was congested on any remaining cables. Even the stock exchanges of countries were affected.
The last thing we need this year is another Internet company launching free services online that’ll make your word processor and other miscellaneous software obsolete.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for storing data in the clouds. I rely on it for most of my productivity needs — emails, task lists, calendars and of course, social networking. And it’s great that access to all that data’s made ubiquitous so you can fetch it from virtually anywhere.
But we’ve taken Internet connectivity and our privacy online for granted. We need a contingency plan to preserve and protect our online data and services in case of anInternet outage. We need reliable backup off the cloud in case everything goes down.
4. Expensive mobile data roaming charges
It riles me that I’m still paying a premium for mobile broadband when I’m travelling. The most I’ve paid? S$30 for every 1MB of downloaded data.
I’m aware that there are services that offer lower data rates. M1, for example, has a data roaming bundle that charges S$80 for 35MB of data weekly and S$210 for 100MB of data monthly.
It’s bad enough that we’ve come to accept exorbitant rates as a reality. Even my iPhone has a software switch to disable data roaming, aptly warning me “to avoid substantial roaming charges when using email, web browsing, and other data services”. Yet, when you’re in a foreign country, that’s exactly when you need access to such services to stay connected and get information.
With smartphones and Internet services (see No 3) gaining ground among consumers, this issue will have to be addressed. All I know is, the next telco to offer me drastically lower data roaming rates gets my moolah.http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/technologyfeatures/view/401252/1/.html
-
Originally posted by caleb_chiang:
What we want are cameras that take the guesswork out of taking great pictures. We don’t mind if they take a bit of bulk off them, too, and make them operate silently.
We have such cameras already. They're called - surprise surprise! - POINT and SHOOT.
The writer's a complete idiot.
-
Agree...
And for the iphone paragraph... iphone already a self killer... not need other phone...
-
Some days you gotta wonder why these guys are getting paid.
