Slashdot Mirror
Harry McCracken Rounds Up the Year In Tech
Velcroman1 writes "Windows got less annoying. Smartphones became smarter. The Internet continued to change entertainment for the better. All in all, it was a good year for technology and the folks who use it. Harry McCracken, the brains behind Technologizer and the former editor-in-chief of PC World, reveals his picks and pans for the most interesting tech stories of the year."
While obviously Snow Leopard and Windows 7 were big deals, there are a lot more game changers and important things out there. The ION platform is a big thing, its already used in a few HTPC setups and I expect it to grow even more in 2010. The cheap full laptops are also going to be big things. Its hard to beat a laptop with a 15 inch screen, a 2.2 ghz CPU and 2 gigs DDR2 and a decent sized HDD for $300 or less. A cheap netbook is good for a geek, kids or the businessman. However, for the elderly, those unemployed and looking for a good laptop, and students, these cheap laptops are going to help change the market.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
There was relly nothing wrong with Vista itself, it was just a poor launch. The Vista Capable debacle as well as hardware manufacturers taking shortcuts caused it to get a bad rap. Releasing a memory hog OS at a time when ram was rediculously expensive probably didn't help either, since many Windows users use $400 PCs. People got the preconceived notion that it was bad, and therefore they acted in a way that made it bad to them (self-fullfilling prophecy, the loser's fallacy, etc). I'm not saying Vista was great, but just not nearly as bad as the press made it out to be. Its the same psychological effect Apple used with its "just works" campaign, just in reverse.
In summary, you're right that Win 7 is basically just a Vista rebrand, but it doesn't mean that a Vista hater will hate Win 7. Only a Vista hater for legitimate reasons will (minority), a market sheep will not (majority).