What to Expect in Tech in 2016
Last year I wrote a podcast about my technology predictions for 2015. Let’s see how close they were and what’s new for 2016.
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What to Expect in Tech in 2016
Let’s look at the five things I predicted for 2015 technology. If you read back you can see them all Click here for information. The first prediction that I had was the 3D printing would take off in the year 2015 and, boy, did it ever—so much so that many 3D printers that were once thousands of dollars are now just hundreds of dollars. The sheer number of companies that are creating 3D printers is driving down the price. There are many different types of printers now, including an awesome liquid 3D printer, and a 3D printer that can print a house.
My next prediction is that the Internet of things (IoT) would take off. Surprisingly, there wasn’t as much growth in this area as I had expected. Although if you take a trip to your closest hardware store, there’s an entire isle dedication to IoT devices whereas before there may have only been an end cap. I’ve done a complete episode on IoT if you’re interested on learning more.
Next was my prediction of the greater adoption of Bitcoin. If you want to learn more I have two episodes dedicated to the topic which you can find here: Bitcoin—Part 1 and Part 2. While adoption didn’t grow as much as I thought it would, there were definitely some interesting developments such as Coinbase’s bitcoin credit card. This is a game changer because now you can use Bitcoin to buy anything you can with a credit card.
The next two predictions were almost too easy because of the direction technology is headed. The first was that there would be more TV and Movies streaming, and this is true. Netflix’s original series have sky rocketed in popularity and cable TV subscriptions are at an all-time low!
Lastly, and this is probably the saddest prediction of all, and it was that there would be more widespread cyber-attacks. At this point, there are so many companies getting hacked that almost once a week there are huge leaks of data brought about publicly. The worst part is that these are the companies that are doing the right thing by informing their customers that there was a data breach. Let alone the companies that try and sweep it under the rug, or the companies that have no idea that they have been hacked in the first place.
Tech Predictions for 2016
Now, what can we expect for tech in 2016? Here are my five predictions:
- Drones
I don’t think that the drone craze has died down at all yet, and I think that 2016 will see a growing legitimacy towards drones. What I mean is that before drones were seen to be similar to remote controlled airplanes, just a toy or something that was used for a hobby.
Now there are more laws and regulations surrounding drones than ever before. I believe that with this we will see an actual business use for drones such as photography and inspection of hard to access areas such as high voltage power poles.
- Hacks
Sadly, I think the year 2016 will see even more hacks than 2015. What scares me, though, is not the type of data that will get leaked, but rather the damage that is to be caused. I believe that 2016 will be the first year computer hacking is used for actual physical harm of people. I’m not exactly sure the mechanism by which this would happen, but it’s not hard to imagine that given how much of our society and environment is controlled by technology. A software vulnerability in the right place say street lights, city infrastructure, or even an airplane could mean a huge loss of life.
- Data caps all around
I believe that 2016 will also be a year focused heavily on data caps. If you’re not aware, data caps are limits to how much data you use. For example your phone plan probably has a 2-10GB data cap before you get charged overages. Well now I believe even your home internet which was typically unlimited will now have a similar data cap system put in place. I believe this will happen due to companies like Comcast who are losing revenue from cable sales, and need to recoup it in other growing areas such as internet usage.
Comcast started slowly rolling this out to some cities, but it is far from perfect and meeting a pretty heavy resistance. Even though most customers don’t support data caps, the amount of money to be made is pretty substantial for Comcast, as websites, such as YouTube and Netflix stream, even more high definition content.
- Focus on privacy
In the coming year, I think that there will also be a large push by the consumer market for greater privacy protections from both the government and from hackers. I think that the market will demand better security in place for users to put their data. This is something that companies such as Apple are supporting pretty heavily. I believe you’ll start seeing privacy as a sought after feature in many new web services and programs.
- Ransomware
Although I already listed hacking as something you would see more of in 2016. I believe that there will be a more specific type of attack targeted at-home users and small businesses known as ransomware. Basically this type of malware will encrypt all of your files and will not give you the password to get your files back until you pay the “ransom,” which is typically in the form of Bitcoin or prepaid credit card.
In early 2015, a Massachusetts police department paid $500 to unlock their data from a similar piece of malware. This type of attack is pretty easy to carry out, and for a hacker carries far less risk than hacking a large company. This may lead to many more forms of this malware spreading throughout the Internet.
Be sure to check out all my earlier episodes at techtalker.quickanddirtytips.com. And if you have further questions about this podcast or want to make a suggestion for a future episode, post them on Facebook QDTtechtalker.
Until next time, I’m the Tech Talker, keeping technology simple!
