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Anyone who follows tech news knows that today, Facebook announced that they have acquired FriendFeed. Not a big deal to most people.

What does FriendFeed do?

FriendFeed is a social media service that tracks “friends” across all of the other social media services – Twitter, Facebook, Netflix, Tumblr, etc. etc.

FriendFeed allows users to watch what their friends are doing everywhere – but it also allows users to post everywhere more easily.

Like Twitter, Facebook is searchable. However, FriendFeed also aggregates Twitter feeds. This means that a FriendFeed search could yield what everyone is talking about everywhere. Read the rest of this entry →

With all of the great headlines coming from the Pirate Bay trial over the past few weeks, I have really been thinking about how hard it must be for both sides to make their case.

Copying software, music or movies without paying for them is illegal. Anything that is illegal is wrong.

I was at the Goodwill this week and looking through their CD collection this week and it got me to wondering if buying a used CD was technically legal. The artist has collected the royalties from the original sale, but does that make it OK?

Are libraries legal? Every book I read from the library is a book that I will likely never buy. Same goes for magazines. I can go to the library and read any issue of any magazine without having to subscribe. Today most libraries even have music and movies available for checkout.

True, someone has paid for those items, but what about all of the lost sales and royalties from people who borrowed but didn’t buy?

Back to my Goodwill analogy, if I buy a shirt from Goodwill that is still in new or near-new condition, am I stealing royalties from the designer?

If the fact that the library, thrift store or yard sale host has already paid for  these items, doesn’t that weaken case against file sharing and illegal piracy.

If someone pays for a song then gives it to someone else, is that illegal? Yes.

If someone buys a Rolex then lets each of his neighbors wear it on alternating days, is that illegal? No.

If someone buys a fake Rolex, pirated copy of Windows or pirated movie, and they never would have purchased the item otherwise, are royalties lost?

I need to be clear, I am not writing in support of piracy. I am just trying to follow the logic behind the various anti-piracy laws. While it may sound crazy, I also wonder if it will be illegal a few years from now for libraries, thrift stores and yard sales to have certain items for sale.

Windows Vista has really had me thinking lately about the future of computers.

Google, Zoho and others have developed very usable programs that work from any Internet based computer allowing anyone to access fully functional programs and all of their data from any Internet enabled computer anywhere.

USB flash drives and portable hard drives have also taken on abilities that were once only found in stand-alone computers. These drives can now run entire programs allowing you to plug them into any computer and run your programs. Once the device is unplugged all of your data goes with it.

Smartphones, like  the iPhone and Blackberry, have replaced 90 percent of what most users used to need a laptop for. Email, basic web surfing, simple games and calendar management can now be done as easily on a cell phone as an expensive and bulky laptop.

I think that in the next five years computers will exist in one of three forms, and none of these forms resembles what we use today.

1. The credit card computer. The day will come when hundreds of gigabytes will fit on a chip as thin as a credit card and as small as a Tic Tac. As of this moment such a chip can hold over 30 gigabytes.

Perhaps one day we will simply have dumb terminals, computer monitors, keyboards and mice that use a simple network interface to connect to the Internet and devices such as printers, digital cameras and cell phones. These terminals will have no memory or storage abilities.

To use these computers, you will insert a small device that you carry in your wallet, or on your keyring. The dumb terminal will suddenly become your computer as it uses the programs and data from your credit card computer that is with you at all times.

2. The cell  phone computer. This is a variation of the credit card computer, but it  is much more practical.

The iPhone was not the first smartphone to combine computer functions with the portability of a cell phone, but it was the first smartphone to get the average user’s attention.

Devices like the Blackberry, Palm Treo and iPhone do more than the average computer was capable of seven years ago.

As memory, power and features expand in portable cell phones, would it be any surprise if we were able to carry our entire computer in such a small package?

Connect the phone into a similar dumb terminal as discussed in number 1 and you have a computer that works in the office, on the road and at home.

3. The Web 2.0 system. There is a good possibility that many computer users will be too attached to their non-portable desktop systems. There is comfort in having a solid 15lb. tower that connects all of your devices.

It is possible that personal computers may stay physically similar to what they are today for quite a while. However, the software on those systems will dramatically change.

Wireless broadband Internet will almost certainly reach most computer users in the next 10 years. This will lead to  Internet based computers. These computers will have a very plain operating system and limited storage capabilities. Powerful processors and video cards may still be essential for those who do games, graphics and CAD, but all programs and data will be stored in online accounts that can be accessed and used from any computer anywhere.

The debate between Mac and PC users will disappear as the operating system will play little or no role in the function of the computer.

I would not be at all surprised if Google is the driving force behind this type of computing. Especially since they already are the driving force for this type of computing.

No matter what type of computer we use, I think that the obvious end will be that TVs will double as monitors and all computing will be portable.

Every January I post my tech predictions for the coming year. In our last newsletter, I reviewed my predictions for 2007 and pointed out that, with a little justification, I was 100 percent correct.

Now for my tech predictions of 2008…

Ron Paul will not be elected and there will be riots. But, only on blog sites that no one reads. CNN, FOX and other mainstream news sites will be forced to shut off their comment feature when Ron Paul is not invited as a third party candidate after the primary elections are over and he fails to get the Republican nomination.

2008 will be Vista’s last year. Microsoft will announce a new OS that will appear in early 2009 that will not be called Vista. The new OS will be targeted at consumers and will be designed to compete with OS X and Ubuntu. I will not go so far as to say that it will be called MSLinux, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

2008 will be the last year that it really matters what kind of computer you have. Adobe will introduce an online version of Photoshop and other major titles will follow eliminating the need to commit to a single OS.

People will grow tired of smartphones and there will be a new surge in simple phones. Other manufacturers will compete with Jitterbug to create a whole new market of simple cell phones.

The spectrum auction will take place and many big companies will buy in hoping to introduce the world to ubiquitous wireless Internet. Stock prices of companies involved will rise sharply. Soon after the auctions a judge will rule that the technology violates privacy and security concerns – expect a sell off.

Palm will be all but dead as they drop plans to release a Linux powered smartphone. Instead they will release one last generation of Palm/Access powered phones based on the Centro design.

USB 3.0 or a similar connection type that allows massive transfer speeds from external devices will begin to show up in high-end computers.

Canon will release a 12 megapixel budget SLR to replace the Rebel XTi. It will also shoot 4 fps and feature live  preview mode.

GPS will show up in nearly all high-end cell phones and other devices. Two-way GPS will be much more common allowing parents to track children and bosses to track employees.

Non-tech predictions….

Scientists will discover what caused global warming the last 11 times it has happened in the world’s history.

Bin Laden will be found alive in a Home Depot parking lot in southern California.

A long time celebrity marriage will end in divorce.

The world’s attention will be turned to a young person’s sudden, mysterious disappearance.

A high profile court case will take place involving a murder – Nancy Grace will use it as the topic for her show on CNN Headline news for 16 straight weeks.

A well known celebrity will enter rehab multiple times but will continue their dangerous party life.

Perhaps in a related story, a celebrity will be arrested for drunk driving and The Smoking Gun will post their mug shot.

CBS will introduce a new crime drama with social awareness statistics hidden in 60 percent of the dialog. “Lieutenant , I just read in my research on this case that 60 percent of all CBS crime dramas are made up of social awareness statistics!”

Someone will give Sean Connery one ping and one ping only.

I will not be a bit surprised if no one is using Windows or Apple Operating Systems’ (OS) in five years. In fact, I thing the OS as we know it could be strictly used for business and enterprise in a lot less time than that.

Imagine powering up a computer in a matter of seconds then going straight to the Internet where all of your programs are found. Your computer would have a massive amount of storage, but you probably wouldn’t use much of it as most of your data would be kept in your online account.

Welcome to the future of Web 2.0.

Rather than simply using the Internet to read news and lookup recipes, the Internet is now an extension of your computer. Since it is online, that can mean that any computer can work just like your computer.

My wife does medical transcription. Every time she has to buy a new computer it means weeks of moving her customizations like dictionaries, spell check, and document settings from one computer to another as many of those can not easily be moved from an older system to a newer. Believe me we have tried – with mixed success over the years.

In the Web 2.0 world, she would use an online word processing program like ZoHo or GoogleDocs. Where she could get online and type in a username and password – suddenly a word processing program would open along with all of her customized settings. She could work from any Internet connected computer in the world.

Today if you have a massive hard drive crash, fire of theft of your computer, all of your data will go with it – unless you backup. Tomorrow such a disaster will be hardly a disaster at all as online storage services like AmazonS3 and OmniDrive provide affordable – if not free – online storage of files.

Why use Quicken to manage your finances when you can manage your bank accounts and online portfolio at sites like Expensr.

These are just the online applications, Web 2.0 will bring you maps, shopping guides, classified ads, market tracking and more. There are two primary differences between a standard website and a Web 2.0 site.

1. The site is customized to your needs and

2. The information can come to you wherever you are.

If you are watching the classifieds for a new tandem bike – you can receive an alert on your cell phone or email when one is posted. If you are waiting for a house to hit the market in a given neighborhood, you can be notified. If you need the phone number for the nearest tailor, simply text the word “tailor” and your zip code to a special number.

The more the Internet evolves, the more we realize that it is only in its infancy and every age becomes the golden age.