The Technology of 2009

Now that 2009 has come to a close, it’s time for some personal tech reflection – beyond the “boxes of the year” and my entry level HD video cam recommendation. By and large, my primary 2009 gadgetry looked quite similar to what I used regularly in 2008 (never minding some model upgrades): iPhone, Macbook, Xbox, TiVo. The two notable additions to my lineup were the Sonos S5 and Sprint’s edition of the Novatel MiFi. Although, I wouldn’t have been so dependent on that MiFi had AT&T not provided me significantly worse coverage in 2009 than in 2008.

Michael Gartenberg has put together his Best Personal Tech of 2009 for Engadget which is worth a read, as I agree with many of his selections. ;) So let’s focus on a few items he and I don’t see eye to eye on. Instead of the 27″ iMac, I’d rather single out Apple’s redesigned 21.5″ model. It has a much better price/performance/features ratio and is truly a bargain by Cupertino standards. Plus, it ships without screen issues. On the software front, Gartenberg highlights both Snow Leopard and Windows 7. Which are merely evolutionary upgrades by any measure. In fact, Snow Leopard would be called a service pack from anyone else and Microsoft’s most notable Windows 7 “feature” is not being Vista. Lastly, I’m not yet sold on any of the underpowered, novelty “pico” projector devices/functionality.

While 2009 may or may not mark the end of the decade, for his last PVRBlog post, Matt Haughey pulled together quotes from a pretty amazing group of VIPs to document the “Decade of DVR.” Of course, any way you slice decade, both ReplayTV and TiVo debuted in the ’90s. And while they pioneered this space, beyond their intellectual property, they’re now bit players in terms of sales and penetration. DirecTV-owned ReplayTV doesn’t produce anything and TiVo continues to bleed subscribers at an alarming rate. (Fortunately for us TiVo fans, 2010 is shaping up to be a huge year, where their partnerships and millions in R&D finally pay dividends – new hardware, new software, new regions, and, most significantly, the return of DirecTV.)

I do agree with Matt that we’ve witnessed a television revolution, still in its infancy, these last 10 years. But when looking back, DVR will be seen as just one technology of a broader on demand content concept/trend, that also includes a browseable catalog of cable offerings, entire seasons delivered on DVD, and episodic downloads/streams from the likes of iTunes and Hulu. Beyond mere hard drive time-shifting, “on demand” fundamentally changes how, when, and where we watch television. In fact, it redefines what “television” is.