The Year Ahead: Keep an Eye on IP TV   

Getting My 2007 Christmas List in Early

Predictions are always popular. Everyone likes to see pundits climb out on a limb, even if only to hear that limb crack if the prognostications turn out to be wrong. So this issue marks the first annual Backbone predictions issue. Wonder where handheldand GPS technology will take you? Love Skype and wonder if this is its year? Read on. These are among the competitive innovations that can make money or lose business for your company. We also discuss IP television, which I believe will be a bellwether for tech in 2007. Adding Internet functionality toother communications technologies—such as cellphones, regular phones and gaming consoles—has delivered significant improvements,yet despite big investmentfrom companies like Bell Canada IP TVhas not taken off. TV is a lean-back, relax on-the-couch experience; the Internet is alean-forward, interactive pursuit. If 2007 isthe year vendors puzzle out how to bridgethat gap, it will demonstrate Internet technologyis mature enough to conquer even the couch. And continuing the spirit of looking ahead, here’s what I would like for Christmas 2007.

Make me a console mogul: Nintendo sold 600,000 Wii consoles in the Americas in the first eight days of availability. That’s almost one per second. By mid-December, supply was still a problem. Stores received small, sporadic shipments which sold out immediately, leaving many parents to explain why Santa didn’t slide a Wii down the chimney. Most tech companies would kill to generate one-tenth of this excitement. So, Kris, I would like to own a game-console company, please.

Reusable paper. The most startling number in this issue is 72 million, the number of sheets of paper the University of Calgary annually sends through printers. “That can’t be right,” I told the writer of the piece, but it is. Printing is a significant business cost, so a recent Xerox announcement is good news. Scientists invented prototype paper with images that last only 24 hours. Xerox estimates two out of every five pages printedin an office are used for only one day (e-mails, Web pages, etc.) so a 40 per cent reduction in paper use could save serious dollars. Less spam. IronPort Systems estimates 55 billion spam messages were sent per day in June 2006. Governments and tech companies have been unable to stop this. Look into it, okay? Stop the shrinking iPods. I like iPods but the new Shuffle is scary small. At 4cm long it’s too easy to lose but, more worrisome, these things will soon be small enough to implant in our bodies. And that would be bad.

Coming in March: our third-annual Top300 issue. Backbone and the Branham Group are once again pleased to present the definitive list of Canada’s movers, shakers, newsmakers and tech performers. Our March issue will deliver the Branham300 rankings of this country’s standout companies and offer analysis of Canada’stechnology industry.

Peter Wolchak
Editor
pwolchak@backbonemag.com