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Has The "Technology Bounceback" Begun?

jg21 writes "Has the 'return of technology' begun, asks this article in the wake of all the coverage of CES both here on Slashdot and elsewhere. But just as it's difficult to gauge how many swallows make a summer, how do you measure a technology bounceback? JDJ's suggestions include indicators from 2004 such as the doubling of Google's share price in just 6 months, the mega-sucess of the iPod, and the success of the Blackberry." Decent article that asks a good question; you'll have to wade through the ads to get to the real text.

14 of 219 comments (clear)

  1. Doubling share price in 6 months means nothing by zymurgy_cat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Anyone who believes so probably thought the dot com boom would last forever........

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    -- Fugacity: Confusing chemists since 1908
  2. I'm not so sure.... by Urger · · Score: 5, Insightful

    that the "bounceback" is begining. I know many individuals who have no intrest in buying new tech products. They are quite happy with the last generation and see no reason to upgrade yet. Just because there is a new product does not mean that people will buy it.

  3. Yes! the bubble is back by spectrokid · · Score: 4, Funny

    Quick, let's set up a company where people can order dog-food online. We'll ask Fed-ex to take care of the shipping! IPO here I come!

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    10 ?"Hello World" life was simple then

  4. RE: Answer.... by fshalor · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nah... Not yet. We're just now getting some stuff that the Korean and Japaneese school kiddies have had for the past 5 years.

    Wait 1-3 more years for us to get them fully integrated into our lives.

    I know some people are already there. But I think for the most part, even those of us with these gadgets, using them constantly to their capabilities is not yet within comonplace.

    I mean, I actidenditly forgot my pda somewhere and lasted like 3 days without it. And that was just after a new year res to use the thing more.

    I haven't synched it in like a monthe either. :)

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    -=fshalor ::this post not spellchecked. move along::
  5. How I personally define a "bounceback" by aendeuryu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When the tech industry is starting to offer better products for more reasonable prices, I call that a bounceback.

    By that standard, it's hard to say. The video card industry is looking really good right now, but so far there hasn't been all that much competition to IPod, so that just seems like an entrenchment of a single popular product (and experience suggests this leads to stagnation more than innovation). Plus, Google's stock doubling doesn't really seem to have all that much impact upon technology so much as the world of business. We get the benefits of their technology in their services, sure, but it's not like google is all of a sudden THAT much better than it's been for the past few years.

    Frankly, when it comes to technology, I'd say that software is having the resurgence, not hardware. Open Source solutions are as strong and available as ever, meaning that Microsoft has had to pick up the pace in terms of the innovations it provides (or claims to, anyhow). And how spoiled are we that we can look at a game like Doom3 and be bored?

  6. What I want to know is.... by cheezemonkhai · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If there is such a bouncback where are the jobs.

    People want to pay a graduate wage to get a person with a good amount of experiance.

    Some jobs demand a MCSE for things that are not even related to the qualification.

    Others are just plain absurd. eg about 1.5 years ago I saw an add asking for CCNA, MCSE and 5+ years commercial experiance with .NET.

    (The salary was £17-22k per year and .NET hadn't even existed for 5 Years).

    If there is a revolution howabout some jobs.. go on please ;)

  7. Employment by edack · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Rather than "must have gadgets", how about gaugeing a technology recovery by numbers of unemployed/underemployed technology workers?

  8. That's not an article. by akadruid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    TFA just says 'Is the dot-com boom back? We've published several technology stories this week, here are links to them'.

    I might get into journalism, has to be easier than working for a living.

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    "Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything." (attrib. Joseph Stalin)
  9. IT by Konster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The IT "bounceback" will be a real bounceback when hiring takes place in earnest...on our own shores.

    And equating Google's share price with an IT "bounceback" leads me to believe that the bursting of the bubble taught some people nothing.

  10. The Economy, Dot.bomb, and Raging Tigers by Daengbo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah. I've been living in Asia for a few years, and everybody talks about how bad the economy is here. Most people seem to believe that the economy is in the tank seriously.

    In reality, The economy grows steadily at 2-3%. This is reasonable and sustainable, but many want a return to the heyday of double digit growth. It won't happen and they'd better come to accept that.

    Many (non-IT) folks I talk to also look back to that time when stock prices were through the roof, everyone's 401K was looking good, and politicians were talking about how to spend all the extra money. They, too, just need to get over it.

    I hope that IT comes bak in a small way, but nothing like the 90s should ever happen again...

    Dan

  11. Predictions... by MSDos-486 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    According to my Cisco teacher the tech industry experiences and up and down pattern about every ten years. First there was PC, and then the Dot Com bubble each followed by a period of less investment but public confidence in the technology. I predict there will be another boom in high tech possibly in Free/Open software. Which will (like the PC and Web boom before them) create a public confidence in Open Source even if investment drops. So you will lose the battle but win the war.

  12. It funny how everyone talks as if it all ended.... by Emperor+Shaddam+IV · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Its funny how everyone talks of the dot-com crash as if the entire industry was almost wiped-out. It was just a correction, an economic cycle. I mean, I'm showing my age here, but I remember a time when I had to get online with a 300-baud modem, and only about 10 people besides myself had a computer at my entire high-school. And we all new each other. Technology never went away. Its so far ingrained into everyone's life now. The Dotcoms may have gone bust, but I can buy a 50 dollar DVD player now thats better than the 300 dollar one I got in 2000. The internet and telecom is not technology, just a subset of it. I wish people would remember that fact, and not base the entire tech sector on just a few areas.

  13. Looking better by rikkards · · Score: 4, Informative

    My contract ended Dec 31 and I have been looking for a job ever since. I can say it looks better than it did last year this time.

  14. DMCA and patents will hold US back by Morgaine · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not so sure that the "bounceback" is begining.

    I'm not sure the question is even meaningful. Like all first-world countries, the US will continue to consume new technology at the maximum rate its consumers and corporations can afford, because it is no longer possible to even contemplate living without it.

    The bigger question is whether the US will be creating much of it, rather than merely consuming what the rest of the world delivers. I think that there's every likelihood that it won't be creating anywhere near as much new technology as it used to, simply because in the last few years it has created for itself an utterly stiffling regulatory environment that benefits only lawyers and megacorps, and so breaks the widespread positive feedback that fuels innovation.

    It doesn't look good to me, not for the US nor for the rapidly self-immolating Europe. This century seems to be tipping in favor of the far east.

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    "The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra