Comments on: Crystal Ball: 2008 (and beyond!) http://mlearning.edublogs.org/2007/12/05/crystal-ball-2008-and-beyond/ An Online Reflective Journal on Mobile Learning Practice Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:35:35 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: Daniel Dacey http://mlearning.edublogs.org/2007/12/05/crystal-ball-2008-and-beyond/comment-page-1/#comment-8320 Daniel Dacey Thu, 27 Dec 2007 00:51:35 +0000 http://mlearning.edublogs.org/2007/12/05/crystal-ball-2008-and-beyond/#comment-8320 Well I would have to say rfid Learning Table, but then as the creator I might be biased. ;) Still the interest has been phenomenal and many additions, including ones along the lines you suggested are being incorporated. Beyond that I doubt email is going to disappear in a commercial sense as it not easily replaced within a corporate structure. In the education context much of what is received in the inbox is really so badly directed that I created filters to automatically delete most of it years ago, so I can understand why some may find its relevance waning. Google is one to watch as they are set to become the new Microsoft of this century. At the moment they can still play the role of disruptor to established companies in the I.T. and Telecommunications sector and still have a halo around them that companies like Microsoft and Apple for that matter, can only hope for. The reality is they are rapidly becoming a powerhouse and are showing signs that when it suits, that can be as ruthless as Microsoft, Sun or Apple ever were. Should be interesting. I agree totally on the shakeup in the mobile sector. The market will consolidate as phones are like computers now, just a commodity. The iPhone is probably the most innovative thing in that sector for years. Apple will probably have a go at a more business oriented mobile device at some point, but that’s all there is really to do. The rest is just tweaking, improving user interface, adding 3G, new colours and styles etc. Spealking of Apple, they have been the true innovators when it comes to “getting” user interface design. The new Mac OS is a world beater and certainly deserves more attention in education then it seems to get. It is as good as the iphone. In the areas of GPS and RFID where I spend a lot of my development time, I would say there will be a few things changing. I think GPS will become increasingly commonplace in mobile devices of all kinds as the cost of incorporating a chip and antennae gets cheaper and cheaper. I think RFID will become increasingly common in many devices and scenarios for the same reasons as GPS. That said I think NEC’s Near Field Communication is a bit of a dud. Still RFID is coming and it will be huge. The driver will be from industry though and mainstream education will be late to the party I suspect. Those teaching in transport are already acutely aware that TAFE hasn’t got it yet when it comes to rfid for example. Still hopefully products like Learning Table will help redress that. For 2009 I foresee a decline in web 2.0 interest (shock horror!) as does happen for any new technology in I.T. By then the VC funding will be getting scarcer, the novelty will have waned, others will be suffering information overload (the problem with email remember?) and many who show no interest now, will still be showing no interest then. It’s not to say 2.0 will disappear, online teaching hasn’t for example, but it is a niche and will settle down to it’s role in educations. Looking beyond that, the PC or a variant of it is not dead or anywhere near so. Touch interfaces and wider access to wireless will make these devices come into their own as the cost of production means they can be made in many shapes, sizes, form factors and specific applications. Like the transistor and the CPU, they will appear in many devices we don’t associate with being a PC. Dan Well I would have to say rfid Learning Table, but then as the creator I might be biased. ;) Still the interest has been phenomenal and many additions, including ones along the lines you suggested are being incorporated.

Beyond that I doubt email is going to disappear in a commercial sense as it not easily replaced within a corporate structure. In the education context much of what is received in the inbox is really so badly directed that I created filters to automatically delete most of it years ago, so I can understand why some may find its relevance waning.

Google is one to watch as they are set to become the new Microsoft of this century. At the moment they can still play the role of disruptor to established companies in the I.T. and Telecommunications sector and still have a halo around them that companies like Microsoft and Apple for that matter, can only hope for. The reality is they are rapidly becoming a powerhouse and are showing signs that when it suits, that can be as ruthless as Microsoft, Sun or Apple ever were. Should be interesting.
I agree totally on the shakeup in the mobile sector. The market will consolidate as phones are like computers now, just a commodity. The iPhone is probably the most innovative thing in that sector for years. Apple will probably have a go at a more business oriented mobile device at some point, but that’s all there is really to do. The rest is just tweaking, improving user interface, adding 3G, new colours and styles etc.

Spealking of Apple, they have been the true innovators when it comes to “getting” user interface design. The new Mac OS is a world beater and certainly deserves more attention in education then it seems to get. It is as good as the iphone.

In the areas of GPS and RFID where I spend a lot of my development time, I would say there will be a few things changing. I think GPS will become increasingly commonplace in mobile devices of all kinds as the cost of incorporating a chip and antennae gets cheaper and cheaper.
I think RFID will become increasingly common in many devices and scenarios for the same reasons as GPS. That said I think NEC’s Near Field Communication is a bit of a dud. Still RFID is coming and it will be huge. The driver will be from industry though and mainstream education will be late to the party I suspect. Those teaching in transport are already acutely aware that TAFE hasn’t got it yet when it comes to rfid for example. Still hopefully products like Learning Table will help redress that.

For 2009 I foresee a decline in web 2.0 interest (shock horror!) as does happen for any new technology in I.T. By then the VC funding will be getting scarcer, the novelty will have waned, others will be suffering information overload (the problem with email remember?) and many who show no interest now, will still be showing no interest then. It’s not to say 2.0 will disappear, online teaching hasn’t for example, but it is a niche and will settle down to it’s role in educations.

Looking beyond that, the PC or a variant of it is not dead or anywhere near so. Touch interfaces and wider access to wireless will make these devices come into their own as the cost of production means they can be made in many shapes, sizes, form factors and specific applications. Like the transistor and the CPU, they will appear in many devices we don’t associate with being a PC.

Dan

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