Spotting trends early

Since Xmas 06 we've had the news that the iPhone was coming, weve had the launch of the late vista and the delay of leopard os x. We had the launch of new iMacs and the explosion of facebook. Apple delivered on the iPhone then went and launched the iPod touch and video nano. Microsoft announced surface computing and sold quite a few zunes. Dell remodelled their desktop line, starting offering the old xp and started selling boxes with 2gb ram as cheap as 1500 with nice large wide screens. Adobe announced air and bought buzzword and put video in flash lite. Google continued to make money look like an abundant resource with soaring revenues.

So what can we make of this. We re kind of going through a phase where some really cool and practical hardware has hit the shelves at great prices. Apple decided to go for the wealthy end of the consumer market with its multi touch technology. Microsoft for whatever reason chose the old school business end of the market for its stunning surface computers. In the next while we'll see these two titans clash from two different directions. Apple will win the consumers over. I was wrong with my confidence in vista. Os x leopard is simply a joy in modern computing that will increase the swing to mac even more.

As hardware prices fall apple are in a great position to get every mac user to upgrade. Its so worth it. Chances are their loyal users will have iPods and iPhones. Apple really needs to launch a digital camera line.

Once Apis are launched to take advantage of these improvements in the user experience then software developers will have work for ever. Good design will count for lots. The hybrid of client based apps with web connectivity will be the smart way to build a flavour of apps. Completely online will be better for others - no rules. 3 has just unlocked the chains on telco skype - that will change the game forever. Best time ever to be involved in helping shape the new economy.

We haven't seen the end of the os yet. Far from it. Apples visual search with cover flow is great. Once surface computing hits the main stream desktop then we ll have a really elegant way to deal with information overload. I cant wait to get all the info trapped in emails into really fast and visually impressive applications. Anyone still reading. The game has only just begun. There are opportunities everywhere. Those that dont spot the trend will die.