All this week, I’ve been offering an opinion as to what I considered to be the best in terms of movies, political events, technology and sport events for 2009. The list is a personal one and therefore subject to discussion, but not argument.
Yesterday, I looked at the movies of 2009, today I will look at the technology stories that I thought made a different in the past year. My list won’t include stories about service outages (Blackberry, Livejournal, Twitter, Facebook, etc) or new phones or Windows 7. My list is about notable tech and the applications that made a difference. That said, let’s roll:
1. The switch from analog to digital TV. In June 2009, all television signals in the United States switched from analog to digital. The lower band analog signal is now reserved for emergency services and (this is a biggie) can now be auctioned off to companies that will be able to provide consumers with more advanced wireless services (such as wireless broadband). In short, the picture of American homes dotted with big and tall TV antennas has gone the way of the dodo.
2. North Korea says it put a satellite in orbit. We say they didn’t. On April 5th, North Korea launched a rocket that they said put a satellite in orbit. Within 30 minutes of the actual launch, the United States had satellites photos of the launch and the rocket’s failure to achieve orbital altitude. In short, we were in a position to call their launch a failure before they were ready to admit there was no satellite transmitting the Song of General Kim Il-sung and Song of General Kim Jong-il to the North Korean people.
3. Facebook saves a man falsely accused of a crime. A man’s Facebook page provided an alibi for a him after he was accused of a crime 12 miles away. The Facebook records for Rodney Bradford were subpoenaed and they did, indeed, show Mr. Bradford had just posted a comment about his pregnant girlfriend and her desire for pancakes on Facebook about one minute before two men 12 miles away were being robbed. This information validated Mr. Bradford’s alibi that he did not commit the crime.
4. Microsoft ordered to stop selling Word 2007. Microsoft lost a lawsuit to a Canadian company that patented a way to read and edit XML coding. Next to Windows, Microsoft’s next biggest cash cow is MS Word and despite the company’s protest to the contrary, losing this suit hurts them. Still, there are deals out there for consumers looking for Microsoft Word or the Office suite, in the near term. For example, as of today, Office (student and home version) is now selling for under $100 which is a 33% reduction from its regular price.
5. Wireless Battery Charging Pad. This is a product from several manufacturers that just makes sense and one wonders why it wasn’t available sooner. The product uses magnetic induction (the same tech used in your rechargeable toothbrush) to charge cell phones and IPods. You lay your device on the pad and walk away. The device recharges quickly (well as fast as your device would charge using USB 2.0). Again, just a product that makes a ton of sense to someone like me who has a lot of portable device, all requiring dissimilar chargers.