Wrapping up 2009, looking forward to 2010

When it comes to the end of the year, it’s often a time to look back on what’s happened to bring us where we are.  Not only are we nearing the end of another year, but we are closing out the first decade of the new millennium.  It’s funny to think that 10 years ago, today, we were fretting over Y2K and if the world would still function at 12:00:01 AM on 1/1/00.

A lot of astounding technology has come about during the last 10 years as well.  Even more interesting, we have seen over 30 years of Moore’s Law, and continue to see it apply to everyday technology.  Technology has continued to become increasingly smaller and faster.  More on Moore’s Law at the Wikipedia page here.

Taking a quick survey from friends at work, it’s amazing to think about how things have transformed during the last decade.  How readily available was broadband Internet 10 years ago?  Now you can find high speed Internet available via cable, DSL, fiber optics, satellite, cellular and many others.  We’ve gone from 2MP digital cameras that ran on AA batteries, to digital SLRs with the ability to record 1080p digital video.

Ten years later, and we are upon some of the most exciting times, technologically speaking.  It’s amazing to see how a world of consumers has been revolutionized and empowered by technology.  No longer is the cell phone a piece of equipment for the elite, but now a must have item for living in the modern day.  It has transformed from a device that we use to talk on, to a portal to the Internet and an entirely new way to communicate.

Looking back also takes us to the present, and looking into the future.  What will we be doing 10 years from now?  How will we communicate?  Will the craze around social networking still be all the rave, or will we look back and say, what were we thinking?  Personally, I think we’ve just started upon the road to generating a social network that allows us to communicate in ways that we would not begin to think about. 

No matter where you are or what you’re doing, take a moment and enjoy. 

Happy New Year!

+sgoad