Since other bloggers are jumping on the band wagon and making predictions for 2009 (because that’s what bloggers do!), I’ll go one better, and also delay the time before anybody can prove me wrong: I’ll predict through 2014! OK, crystal ball/ on the table/ tell all the future/ that you’re able. Something’s coming in…

Yahoo still won’t get bought. – Did that get your attention? We spent the better part of 2008 gossiping about Yahoo and Microsoft and their expected tryst. Never happened. Microsoft is too greedy to pay through the nose and Yahoo is too full of pride to offer lower. And Yahoo is actually still more profitable than some 90% of web-based businesses. They still made $7.22 billion in 2008 and they’re still a Fortune 500 company, OK?

Google will launch their own stand-alone operating system. – They kind of have that already – Android on the phone, Chrome for a web browser, Gears for widgets, Google Docs for office tools, SketchUp for a graphics editor. Put all the pieces together and make a boot-loader, that’s all they have to do. Microsoft is literally shaking in its shoes at this one.

More astroturf. – “Astroturf” is where a professional hired by a corporation poses as your friend in a social site, then tries to sell you something. Worse, ten of them band together to mod you down if you have anything bad to say about their product, and up if you cheer for their product. They’ll also troll and badger you to change your opinion. It’s fake grassroots support, so they call it “astroturfing”. Expect tons more. We already saw it online this year with the United States presidential election and candidate Ron Paul’s fake support, the fake hype over movies such as “The Dark Knight” and “Iron Man”, and the usual dirty tricks by big corporations everywhere. Expect to see jobs hiring professional commenters.

Sun Microsystems is going down. – Open-sourcing Solaris and Java was their last gasp. Even that hasn’t helped either of these limping technologies pick up new supporters. Without Solaris and Java, Sun has some nice servers to sell, and that’s it.

Twitter will get bought. – Most likely buyer: Google.

 

Categories: Social Media