Backbone is about business, technology, lifestyle, innovation, bold ideas, trends and events
Editor's Letter
February 12, 2010
2010: e-books, cloud computing and a vibrant cellular market
Welcome to Backbone’s annual predictions issue, one of my favourites every year. It’s always interesting—and potentially very useful—to ask the industry’s leading experts what they think is coming in the next 12 months.
And it’s also an opportunity for me to add my prognostications, which I have done below for three predictions from our cover story.
E-book readers unite I have been a fan of electronic books for years, writing about them first here in 2004. That’s why the following Amazon press release headline caught my attention: “On Christmas Day, for the First Time Ever, Customers Purchased More Kindle Books Than Physical Books.”
The statement is true, no doubt, but it’s also a bit of a cheat. Two things happened on Christmas Day: physical stores were closed, so book buyers could only order online; and lots of people unwrapped new—and empty—Amazon Kindle e-book readers.
But those of us who tout the benefits of e-books (price, convenience, reduced environmental and shelf-space impact) will take this win. It’s clear that e-books are catching on, driven largely by the availability of high-quality reading devices such as the Kindle, the Nook, the iPhone and Apple’s upcoming tablet. Prediction: This is the year e-books truly go mainstream and give paper some real competition.
Google launches GDrive (sort of) Another prediction in this issue is that cloud computing (the use of Internet-connected computers for computation and data storage) will get improved business-class functionality. Consumer offerings have gotten better as well, especially now that Google has launched its much-anticipated GDrive storage service.
Well, not really, because the company is obstinately refusing to call it GDrive, but it’s the same idea: users can soon upload a file of any type to Google Docs, where it will remain safe and unchanged until needed again. Users get 1GB of free storage and more space costs a paltry US$0.25 per gigabyte per year.
Previously, only word processing documents, spreadsheets, PDFs and presentations could be stored and then only after conversion to a Google Docs format. Prediction: GDrive’s arrival will increase competition with Microsoft’s SkyDrive and others, driving both the adoption and quality of consumer-level cloud computing.
More wireless competition, please I walked into a Blockbuster in January and encountered the new face of competition in Canada’s cellular world: Wind Mobile had a bright, shiny kiosk in the store, mirroring the displays Rogers usually has in its video stores. In fact, the cellular section of the nearby Rogers store had recently been treated to an extensive makeover; I now understood why.
But while it was shiny, the Wind display was not exactly overflowing with phones. According to the company’s Web site, as of mid-January it offers a good BlackBerry (the Bold 9700), a Windows 6 smartphone (and no one gets excited about WinMo 6 phones), a standard Samsung unit and one lonely BREW touchscreen model made by Huawei.
No iPhone, no Palm Pre and no Android phones. No sexy. And let’s face it: when people buy phones sexy matters. However, Wind is new and it will get better. Prediction: The fact that Rogers improved its retail experience around the time Wind moved in down the street is a small thing, but it’s indicative of the larger change and improvement that will occur in Canada as the incumbents face strengthening competition from Wind and others.
Peter Wolchak
Editor
pwolchak@backbonemag.com
2010: e-books, cloud computing and a vibrant cellular market - February 12, 2010
Take our technology test - November 24, 2009
Your next investment, next mentor, next job - October 1, 2009
FreshBooks in this year’s PICK 20 top spot - July 27, 2009
Here’s the problem with Green Tech - May 27, 2009
Branham 300 companies set revenue milestone - March 31, 2009
Expect change - January 26, 2009
Figuring out Web 2.0 - November 17, 2008
Protests can work - September 11, 2008
Feds going Web 2.0 in a big way - July 10, 2008
Environmental responsibility, when it pays - May 5, 2008
Profiling innovation - March 17, 2008
Predicting 2008 - January 2, 2008
The argument for reconsidering Microsoft Office - November 8, 2007
Hybrids sales to hit record levels. Is that a good thing? - September 7, 2007
TO tops in digital media, professional shared services - July 1, 2007
Blogging for dollars: market maturity or death knell? - May 1, 2007
Tears, cheers and bears - March 9, 2007
The Year Ahead: Keep an Eye on IP TV - January 4, 2007
Little cash for technology?
SMBs should reconsider - October 27, 2006
editorletter_09050601.asp - September 5, 2006
Waiting on innovations - July 6, 2006
Wi-Fi plan puts Toronto ahead - May 8, 2006
The innovation engine - March 14, 2006
Technology is wonderful. Except when it’s not. - January 9, 2006
Simply not prepared for the worst - November 10, 2005
Wi-Fi: the future of mobile communication or a lot of industry hype - September 11, 2005
Tech stories, the bad and the good - July 14, 2005
Forget About Relying on Hotspots - July 12, 2005
Blog, RSS and VoIP only with your eyes open - May 2, 2005
The Innovation Issue - March 16, 2005
E-tail success: watch the pennies - January 4, 2005
E-business needs more town criers - October 11, 2004
No one "gets away from it all" any more - September 2, 2004
The four elements that will make Wi-Fi useful - May 7, 2004
Got Innovation - March 9, 2004
Check out an e-book - January 19, 2004
Lifestyle Options Will Drive The Workplace - November 10, 2003
Welcome to the New - September 13, 2003
Notable software, unlocked doors and one try at canning spam - July 14, 2003
Exposing E-tailing‘s Failures - May 6, 2003
Boring, costly and absolutely vital - January 6, 2003
Terror, One Year Later - September 2, 2002
Convergence: the last big dream - July 10, 2002
Planning a big e-commerce project? Ask for a guarantee - May 6, 2002
Tablets, pirates and promises made - March 5, 2002
Don‘t let the pessimists get you down - January 6, 2002
Dealing with the fallout of terror - November 6, 2001
We‘ve only seen act one - September 24, 2001
Why You're Reading This Magazine - July 1, 2001
This is not simply the Information Age - May 1, 2001
2010: e-books, cloud computing and a vibrant cellular market
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And it’s also an opportunity for me to add my prognostications, which I have done below for three predictions from our cover story.
E-book readers unite I have been a fan of electronic books for years, writing about them first here in 2004. That’s why the following Amazon press release headline caught my attention: “On Christmas Day, for the First Time Ever, Customers Purchased More Kindle Books Than Physical Books.”
The statement is true, no doubt, but it’s also a bit of a cheat. Two things happened on Christmas Day: physical stores were closed, so book buyers could only order online; and lots of people unwrapped new—and empty—Amazon Kindle e-book readers.
But those of us who tout the benefits of e-books (price, convenience, reduced environmental and shelf-space impact) will take this win. It’s clear that e-books are catching on, driven largely by the availability of high-quality reading devices such as the Kindle, the Nook, the iPhone and Apple’s upcoming tablet. Prediction: This is the year e-books truly go mainstream and give paper some real competition.
Google launches GDrive (sort of) Another prediction in this issue is that cloud computing (the use of Internet-connected computers for computation and data storage) will get improved business-class functionality. Consumer offerings have gotten better as well, especially now that Google has launched its much-anticipated GDrive storage service.
Well, not really, because the company is obstinately refusing to call it GDrive, but it’s the same idea: users can soon upload a file of any type to Google Docs, where it will remain safe and unchanged until needed again. Users get 1GB of free storage and more space costs a paltry US$0.25 per gigabyte per year.
Previously, only word processing documents, spreadsheets, PDFs and presentations could be stored and then only after conversion to a Google Docs format. Prediction: GDrive’s arrival will increase competition with Microsoft’s SkyDrive and others, driving both the adoption and quality of consumer-level cloud computing.
More wireless competition, please I walked into a Blockbuster in January and encountered the new face of competition in Canada’s cellular world: Wind Mobile had a bright, shiny kiosk in the store, mirroring the displays Rogers usually has in its video stores. In fact, the cellular section of the nearby Rogers store had recently been treated to an extensive makeover; I now understood why.
But while it was shiny, the Wind display was not exactly overflowing with phones. According to the company’s Web site, as of mid-January it offers a good BlackBerry (the Bold 9700), a Windows 6 smartphone (and no one gets excited about WinMo 6 phones), a standard Samsung unit and one lonely BREW touchscreen model made by Huawei.
No iPhone, no Palm Pre and no Android phones. No sexy. And let’s face it: when people buy phones sexy matters. However, Wind is new and it will get better. Prediction: The fact that Rogers improved its retail experience around the time Wind moved in down the street is a small thing, but it’s indicative of the larger change and improvement that will occur in Canada as the incumbents face strengthening competition from Wind and others.
Peter Wolchak
Editor
pwolchak@backbonemag.com
2010: e-books, cloud computing and a vibrant cellular market - February 12, 2010
Take our technology test - November 24, 2009
Your next investment, next mentor, next job - October 1, 2009
FreshBooks in this year’s PICK 20 top spot - July 27, 2009
Here’s the problem with Green Tech - May 27, 2009
Branham 300 companies set revenue milestone - March 31, 2009
Expect change - January 26, 2009
Figuring out Web 2.0 - November 17, 2008
Protests can work - September 11, 2008
Feds going Web 2.0 in a big way - July 10, 2008
Environmental responsibility, when it pays - May 5, 2008
Profiling innovation - March 17, 2008
Predicting 2008 - January 2, 2008
The argument for reconsidering Microsoft Office - November 8, 2007
Hybrids sales to hit record levels. Is that a good thing? - September 7, 2007
TO tops in digital media, professional shared services - July 1, 2007
Blogging for dollars: market maturity or death knell? - May 1, 2007
Tears, cheers and bears - March 9, 2007
The Year Ahead: Keep an Eye on IP TV - January 4, 2007
Little cash for technology?
SMBs should reconsider - October 27, 2006
editorletter_09050601.asp - September 5, 2006
Waiting on innovations - July 6, 2006
Wi-Fi plan puts Toronto ahead - May 8, 2006
The innovation engine - March 14, 2006
Technology is wonderful. Except when it’s not. - January 9, 2006
Simply not prepared for the worst - November 10, 2005
Wi-Fi: the future of mobile communication or a lot of industry hype - September 11, 2005
Tech stories, the bad and the good - July 14, 2005
Forget About Relying on Hotspots - July 12, 2005
Blog, RSS and VoIP only with your eyes open - May 2, 2005
The Innovation Issue - March 16, 2005
E-tail success: watch the pennies - January 4, 2005
E-business needs more town criers - October 11, 2004
No one "gets away from it all" any more - September 2, 2004
The four elements that will make Wi-Fi useful - May 7, 2004
Got Innovation - March 9, 2004
Check out an e-book - January 19, 2004
Lifestyle Options Will Drive The Workplace - November 10, 2003
Welcome to the New - September 13, 2003
Notable software, unlocked doors and one try at canning spam - July 14, 2003
Exposing E-tailing‘s Failures - May 6, 2003
Boring, costly and absolutely vital - January 6, 2003
Terror, One Year Later - September 2, 2002
Convergence: the last big dream - July 10, 2002
Planning a big e-commerce project? Ask for a guarantee - May 6, 2002
Tablets, pirates and promises made - March 5, 2002
Don‘t let the pessimists get you down - January 6, 2002
Dealing with the fallout of terror - November 6, 2001
We‘ve only seen act one - September 24, 2001
Why You're Reading This Magazine - July 1, 2001
This is not simply the Information Age - May 1, 2001
