2008 is going to start soon and what is going to happen in '08.

25 min overview 

1 hr endepth  

Below is the text I found on the internet.  Check out the actual sites for the full information.

The Economist's Technology Predictions For 2008

Slashdot talks about the Economist:
"1. Surfing will slow: The internet is not about to grind to a halt, but as more and more users clamber aboard to download music, video clips and games… surfing the web is going to be more like traveling the highways at holiday time. You'll get there, eventually, but the going won't be great.
2. Surfing will detach: Internet will doubtless be as popular among mobile-internet surfers as among their sedentary cousins.
3. Surfing — and everything else computer-related — will open: Rejoice: the embrace of 'openness' by firms that have grown fat on closed, proprietary technology is something we'll see more of in 2008… Since the verdict against SCO, Linux has swiftly become popular in small businesses and the home, largely the doing of Ubuntu 7.10. And because it is free, Linux become the operating system of choice for low-end PCs. Neither Microsoft nor Apple can compete at the new price points being plumbed by companies looking to cut costs."

kevinhasablogg
Dec 25
Permalink
2008 Tech Predictions

    * 1: Apple will launch a 3G iPhone powered by a broadcom chipset.
    * 2: Apple will launch a second (cheaper) iphone w/limited functionality.
    * 3: Tivo will be acquired.
    * 4: Tumblr will be acquired.
    * 5: More sites will adopt OpenID, but only geeks will notice.
    * 6: Google/Microsoft/Facebook will compete w/Amazon in the web services market.
    * 7: My family still won't understand RSS, or use it.
    * 8: Semantic Web won't take off in 2008.
    * 9: Semitransparent 'overlay' video ads will finally monetize short-form content.
    * 10: Microsoft will launch a new 360 w/integrated HDDVD/HDMI/250GB HD.

http://baris.typepad.com/venture_capitalist/2007/12/2008-technology.html

From Istanbul To Sand Hill Road
1) The Success of Google's Android and the Open Handset Alliance:  This means that handsets will become more like PC's and wireless carriers will become more like landline DSL providers.

Nancy Weil, IDG News Service Thu Dec 27, 4:00 AM ET

The predictable flood of information technology prognostications for 2008 has been rolling in, and we have listened to analysts, vendors, consultants, and our geek friends, accepting some forecasts and rejecting others. Turns out we did pretty well culling the wheat from the chaff last year and gazing ahead, though maybe we weren't bold enough in our declarations. So, this year we'll stretch a little and predict:
Windows XP's Reprieve
Microsoft will announce an extension until the end of 2008 for Windows XP availability, instead of cutting it off on June 30.

In September '07, the company pushed the extension from the end of January until June after corporate users complained. Not to mention that many companies had decided to put off moving to Vista. The migration will continue to be slow for at least the first half of 2008.

Who's Hacking Whom?
A major international incident will erupt when Chinese hackers compromise the defense or security system (or both) of another government. Classified documents will be breached. Accusations will be traded. Relationships will be tense and ugly for a time.
The Greening of IT

"Green" IT will become a sustainable model in the enterprise. The bottom line will be the primary force in the greening of data centers and offices.

Environmental concerns (spurred by weird weather occurrences and alarming reports about polar bears) coupled with a woeful economic scene globally will be dominant themes in 2008, leading to corporate, consumer and government action that will include serious penny-pinching as more of us come together to try to save the planet and our budgets.

The European Union will again be the main governmental force behind pushing green regulations in 2008.
Network Evolution

Mobile networks will not only open up to outside handsets, devices and applications, but will increasingly offer Wi-Fi and a plethora of location-based services. Media content, search, social networks, shopping and a variety of services will all be standard parts of the mobile network experience.

Networks "have to evolve in very radical ways," says Jake Seid, Lightspeed Venture Partners general partner, mobile. How radical has yet to be seen, but analysts aplenty envision 2008 as a watershed year for networks to be opened and for big changes on the mobile landscape, partly owing to the iPhone effect.
A Linux Year

As Vista continues to limp toward wider adoption, Linux will make major inroads into the enterprise, as well as in government IT. At the same time, the leaner OS will become a more attractive option for home users and in consumer electronics, spurred by the Open Handset Alliance and the advent of Google's Android mobile platform, which will be built on the Linux kernel. Jim Zemlin, the president of the Linux Foundation, sees 2008 as a "really interesting, breakthrough year for Linux," and we think he's right about that. Expect assorted open-source applications to follow along.

Growing Pains of Social Networking

Social networking will invade corporations by year's end. Services akin to the Salesforce.com offering that lets salespeople share leads and information will become standard in that market segment. But increasingly, social-networking applications will seep into all manner of companies, whether the IT department likes it or not. "It will be driven more by individual adoptions," predicts Konstantin Guericke, co-founder of LinkedIn and CEO of Jaxtr. "We're social beings– we like to see what our peers are doing."

Privacy issues will have to be sorted out. The brouhaha over Facebook's Beacon ad system won't be the last situation to cause outcry by any stretch, because social-networking sites will continue to push the envelope. Users will push back. Legislation and regulations will be proposed and enacted. Which leads us to…
Blurred Lines

Distinctions between consumer and corporate IT will continue to blur, and the social-networking phenomenon is but one element of that.

iPhone-buying employees will bring that device into the enterprise in ever-growing numbers, forcing IT departments to deal with it. Security and protection from hackers, spam, phishers, and the lot of cyber miscreants will continue to pose a huge headache for network administrators as home IT merges with corporate IT.
The Consolidation Drumbeat

Pure-play software vendors will increasingly be a thing of the past as Oracle and other monoliths swoop in on more acquisition targets in the new year.

And IDC has predicted for 2007 and again for 2008 that Salesforce.com will be bought (though '07 isn't over yet…). That seems like a good guess. We don't expect Palm to make it through '08 without being bought, and that long-rumored Microsoft-RIM deal could come to pass, too.
Virtualization Comes to the Desktop

We didn't want to make a virtualization prediction, but we would be remiss not to. Many prognosticators are gazing into their crystal balls and seeing virtualization on desktops. While some analysts are predicting that will be a sort of Thin Client 2.0, Barry Eggers, Lightspeed general partner, enterprise infrastructure, envisions something different. "Thin clients were about reducing up-front capital costs with a slimmed-down hardware client. Desktop virtualization is about intelligently provisioning applications to desktop users," he says.

He envisions a more successful model will find IT shops using desktop virtualization in conjunction with virtualized servers. Early adopters are finding that users weren't so keen on that model because the "user experience [is] much less satisfying than a full desktop," he says, but that will start to change in the new year. How? And where will it lead? We'll leave that to the 2009 predictions.

Vote Early and Often

Although we realize that the U.S. is not the center of the universe, the upcoming election seems more important on a global scale than others in recent memory. So, we predict historic levels of turnout at the polls in November, and that will give rise to historic levels of problems with electronic voting. Ohio will be a mess in that regard. Florida won't be appreciably better. While the outcome of the presidential race won't be imperiled by e-voting issues, some state and local races will need manual recounts owing to problems with machines.

Sorting out how to regulate e-voting (again) will keep the new Congress (with Democrats in control of both houses) busy in the first quarter of next year. The new president might not directly affect IT, though the president's views regarding the use of technology have certainly had an effect in recent years. On that note, we'll make our boldest prediction for 2008: President Obama.

Six Tech Predictions for 2008
December 13th, 2007 (4:00pm) Samuel Dean 12 Comments

It’s only a matter of days until 2008, and next year promises to bring some significant changes that will affect web workers. In this post, I’ve rounded up six predictions that may affect you next year, in some cases possibly profoundly.

The Arrival of 802.11n Wireless Technology. Many people, especially those using Macs, have already adapted next-generation, Draft 802.11n Wi-Fi technology, which offers much faster wireless speeds. The proposed standard is supposed to be ratified in 2008, though, and that will cause many more business people to move to the new flavor of Wi-Fi, along with many new kinds of devices you can put on your 802.11n network.

Look for Lower Entry Points in Computer Pricing. The month of November already brought several key challenges to both desktop and notebook pricing models. Asus’ Eee PC line includes $300 and $400 notebook computers stocked exclusively with open-source software. Meanwhile Everex’s new gPCs are desktop systems running only open source software that you can get for under $200. In 2008, look for more reductions in computer pricing, and additions to these product lines.

Brighter Prospects for Open Source Offerings. The world of open source is no longer only about Linux, although many bright things are going on with Linux distros and applications. Lots of people are waking up to the free applications available for the PC and the Mac, and to Widgets, Gadgets and free collections of applications from companies such as Google. Expect much more of this in 2008.

A Jump Up in Hostpot Usage. In a recent report from iPass based on data from over 3,500 businesses, business use of Wi-Fi hotspots was shown to be up 68 percent between the first half of 2007 and the first half of 2006. Meanwhile, many more hotspots are starting up, and there are growing efforts to Wi-Fi-enable entire cities. Expect the numbers to jump up in 2008.

More Musical Chairs Among Social Networks. Social networking online was written off not too long ago as a playground exclusively for young people, but there are now so many social networks, and enough business applications for them, that steady migration from one network to the next is going on. Expect more types of social networks in 2008, and more people migrating from one network to the next.

Brand New Applications Based on Short-Range Wireless Improvements. Wireless USB and High-Speed Bluetooth have both been waiting for their moments in the sun. In 2008, expect them to get their moments, along with entirely new short-range wireless applications. Wireless USB, in particular, is poised to start allowing for applications like easy, fast wireless transfers of video, photos, and more—much as people currently do these transfers on a wired basis. The first quarter of next year will see a wave of consumer electronics products with Wireless USB embedded.