In recent weeks various research companies have been issuing predictions for 2007. To be quite honest I’ve found the predictions quite tedious; very boring fare indeed. Yes, we know some people will upgrade to Vista, we know there’s going to be more viruses, more spam, etc etc. Boring, boring, boring!

The truth is that there are going to be some really interesting happening things happening in 2007. The only problem is that research companies don’t have the grit to publish the really interesting predictions.

With that in mind, and with my finger firmly on the pulse of global technology zeitgeist, here are my top five predictions for 2007. Yes, they may sound unlikely now, but I guarantee that everyone of them will come true. Just come back here in December 2008 and you’ll be amazed at how cannily accurate these predictions will turn out to have been.

Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony agree on a standard hardware platform

In a bid to stop the twenty-five-year-old console war, where players like Sony and Nintendo, and more recently Microsoft (not to mention also rans like Sega, Atari, Commodore, Mattel) continue to develop proprietary games console hardware, the big three console companies will develop a standard gaming platform. I predict that the new standard hardware platform will be based on an Intel processor and use a cut-down version of Windows Vista as its operating system.

Apple will launch iLife everything-in-one gadget 

After the successful launch of iPhone in the first half of 2007, Apple will launch it’s most ambitious gadget yet — a phone/personal digital assistant/media player/GPS system called iLife. Using the latest voice recognition technology, you’ll be able to access menus and issue instructions using speech. iLife will really be like a personal digital assistant in that you’ll be able to talk with it as though it is a human being. For example, if you’re lost in a foreign city, you’ll be able to ask for and receive directions. If you want the address for your next appointment, you’ll be able to just ask. And yes, the iLife will look cool, very, very cool.

Bill Gates denounces Microsoft

There’s been big change in Bill Gate in recent years as he’s left the day-to-day running of Microsoft to others. He’s realized that you can’t take your zillions with you and has set up a foundation to tackle poverty and other global issues (personally I applaud this action as it shows that Gates is emotionally intelligent and not just a one dimensional business man). I predict that Bill Gates will go one step further and denounce Microsoft, the very company he helped set up. During a moment of reflection he’ll see that he’s created an ruthless multinational corporation hell bent on world domination that stifles innovation and change. He’ll come to see that it threatens the very values he held when he set up Microsoft in the first place.

Zune overtakes iPod

In order to enhance the Vista experience, Microsoft will release an essential security update which will stop Vista from working with any non-Microsoft media player, including, and especially iPod. This brilliant marketing strategy will greatly increase Zune’s marketshare, but only until a “hack” is released by a group of coders (secretly funded by Apple) that allows Vista to also work with iPod. Sadly, for Apple, this counter strike will only work for a short time, when punters realize that hacked versions of Vista won’t then validate and won’t be able to download crucial security updates.

MySpace boots out fakes, weirdos and freaks

Using special technology developed by the CIA and various law enforcement agencies, MySpace will start deleting accounts belonging to old men pretending to be teenage girls, people trying to cheat on their boyfriends/girlfriends, and other users deemed to be weirdos and freaks. However MySpace will be forced to reverse this policy after it finds that its membership falls from well over a 100 million to just 250.

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Entry was posted on Monday, December 18th, 2006 at 9:52 am under Opinion, Technology.

Read more entries by James Cornelius.
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