A close friend of mine, Kyle, sent me this link this morning. We are friends with the guys at the bottom of the list, hate the guys 4th down the list, forbid intelligence gathering against the guys second in the list and attacked the guys in the middle of the list. Do you see a problem with all of this, I mean, geopolitically of course? With all of that said, should we attack the guys at the top of the list?
I’m sure most of you have heard about the big Tier 1 networks whining about people hogging connection speeds with file sharing and video watching. With that said, why did Comcast announce that they will be coming out with speeds of 100 Mbps by 2010? If you’re going to charge more for speed, why do I want a fast connection. It’s like giving someone who has a spending problem a Platinum credit card.
Well, I will start this post with a small note that I may piss some people off, and if I do, then this post worked. 
To start, I have worked for several companies in my almost ten years of technology experience and one thing has always boggled my mind: What makes a good/great CEO? I know there are many answers depending on the book you read or the CEO that you talk to, but I really want to know, what makes one great?
I have worked with some of the best and brightest people on the planet when it comes to technology and consider myself lucky that I’ve had those opportunities, and I hope I continue to have them. With that said, some of those managers, SVP’s and CXO’s weren’t worth a damn. Some of the dumbest decisions were made on projects and to this day I still can’t figure some of them out.
Why is it just because some guy in a suit and tie, has his MBA from some Ivy League school and has “worked on projects that generated X millions of dollars in a year”, gets the right to make life altering decisions for a corporate entity? Oh, and news flash for the ass clowns that claim millions of revenue to your name, there are these things called “teams”, and they work together to “generate X millions of dollars a year” but I don’t see them running the show. Of course, those that don’t run the show who helped make those dollars, actually have a conscience and don’t lie to get to the top. Keep in mind when stepping on people to get somewhere, unless you kill them with the spike on your heel, they will rise up and remember what you did.
I have always believed that hard work and perseverance had it’s rewards. I’m starting to believe that those bedtime stories my mother use to read have something in common with that statement. Talking the talk is one thing, but walking it is another, and I wish people would quit talking it and crumbling whole companies or economies based on it.
In closing, I didn’t want this to be a bitch session, but it has turned into it, but for any that have made it this far, please, leave some feedback or insight into your world, and I won’t feel bad if you claim anonymity when commenting. 
The BBC has a fantastic article on the year ahead for the tech community and what may be on the horizon.
This list is as follows:
Ahhhhh, ubiquitous computing, well, maybe not that far, but with applications like Google Gears, being able to pull such things as Google Reader feeds down to my laptop before I leave work, allows me to read my feeds if I have to pitstop somewhere that doesn’t have wireless. I see this technology becoming increasingly invested in in 2008 and many more applications from Google and Microsoft (maybe Yahoo!) being available with or without internet.
Apple has a patent and rumors abound about a sub notebook that will release this year. I’m not sure how you can get much smaller than a MacBook (which I own), but hey, smaller is better and Apple is all about small hardware. With size comes mass and the lighter, the better. I remember the days of Dell laptops that could be used as weapons if thrown at someone.
The use of Flash memory in place of conventional (and outdated as debated by some) hard disk memory will push these devices even smaller and consuming less power (I smell Green Technology).
If the US can ever get their ass rolling in the utility sector (minus Verizon’s FiOS), this will increasingly take off here in the States. The merge of TV and Web will become increasingly prevalent over the next 5 years. The only blocker would be the FCC or big business lobbyist’s shooting down legislation. This where Net Neutrality becomes a huge discussion point.
Again, another technology that is long overdue and will hopefully open doors on more mobile technologies the likes of ones seen in Japan. The ability to use your mobile device to do more and be able to connect o high bandwidth speeds on a portable device such as a laptop or portable TV are very nice things with the expansion of technology deliverables (voice, video, audio, etc.)
Sprint is launching their Xohn network later this year and Washington, DC, Baltimore and Chicago are the test beds.
Skype is not only an awesome chat service, but now is pushing into the VoIP realm with phones that have data plans only and allow for chatting and VoIP. There were some folks coming up with applications on the iPhone (when hacked) that would allow VoIP as well. Again, this is great technology, but I can see the Telcos trying to knock this down as it cuts into their profit margins.
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