ADIOS 2008

This year, like any other, has been one hell of a treat for all us gadget and technology freaks. Why do I call myself a tech freak? Well, I am among those who look out for new technology every year, and by December say “hey you know what, we should have just waited a while and bought it cheaper”.

2008, too, had its share of things that revolutionised technology and changed the way we made our choices. Here’s an attempt to revisit all the movers and shakers of the year.

The most awaited launch this year was the iPhone 3G, with operators waiting for the clock to strike 12 to sell the first unit which promised high-speed Internet on your phone. We also waited eagerly for 3G services which were supposed to bring the high-speeds to the iPhone, but by the time MTNL launched its services it was mid-December and that too was restricted to a few customers, who are unsure of what they would have to pay for the G force.

There was some other mobile news too. Hutch became Vodafone, Virgin joined hands with Tata to become the first company to pay you for all incoming calls, and Airtel launched more and more services. The fight for 3G licences is still on, and soon we should get to see one of the big players finally giving you a full-fledged service.

Till then, the iPhone is just another iPod you can use to make some calls. At the price it is being sold at and with 3G still beyond us, the Jesus phone has been confined to being every yuppy’s dream, maybe also a conversation starter at parties, but is yet to become a phone that flies off the shelves.

2008 was also the year of the Netbook. These new age laptops make sense, as they are cheaper than regular notebooks, and are also green, using lesser energy to produce, ship and run. Since most of us use laptops only to browse the Internet, document management tasks, e-mails and chat, we really don’t need the fastest computers on earth that can calculate a trillion bits of information in a second, at least not all of us.

I bought the Acer Aspire One from among a choice of Dell, MSI, Asus and HP. I also found a lot of other users switching to these machines, which not only offer great battery time and ultra portability, but are ideal for the daily grind. No wonder, market leaders Asus and Acer together managed to sell 10 million of these tiny laptops in 2008. For me it has been a good investment. Though I bought it as a second machine, it makes good sense even as your primary laptop.

2009 is at our doorstep, but the debate between Plasma and LCD TVs is still on. Back in the old days it was a simple choice between colour and black and white, plus size, all defined by budgets. Today, when everything can be bought on EMI, having the biggest TV, Plasma or LCD has just made life a bit more complicated. I personally am very happy with my standard television and don’t really want to shift to an LCD. For one, the wide format (16:9) is only good if you are watching DVD, the regular TV feeds look awkward on this format. HD should be here in a few years, but not right now, unless you plan to watch a whole lot of HD content by buying a Blu-ray player.

The Plasma vs LCD war should also be over soon. With the price difference diminishing, one should win over the other and become the standard. Till then, I am also a spectator.

The list can go on, but I will bid farewell to 2008 with this, and wishes for a great new year ahead. See you in 2009.

--
The above article appeared in the Indian Express, dated Sunday 28th December 2008