Technology moves at an incredible pace. Consider that your smartphone (assuming you own one) is more powerful than the computers that allowed man to land on the moon and you'll understand just how quickly things move on.
This means technology is an exciting field to follow, as it's an industry that is forever moving forward onto bigger and better things. But in which direction, we wondered, do you want it to go in 2015? We asked, you answered, and here are the results of our discussion.
Wishful Thinking Or Plausible Possibilities?
In 2015, We Want…
Windows 10 To Be Awesome
https://youtu.be/AGT9pSuacCI
Windows 10 is scheduled to arrive during the second half of 2015. We just hope this latest operating system from Bill Gates and chums achieves user satisfaction ratings more in line with Windows XP and Windows 7 than Windows Vista and Windows 8.
Facebook To Stop. Just Stop.
Facebook : Where you slowly learn to hate people you've loved for years Twitter : Where you fall in love with someone you've never met— Daniel Zennon (@dzennon) January 13, 2015
Facebook keeps on doing stuff to annoy us all. I mean, I'm sure it's not intentionally designed to annoy us all, but that's the inevitable upshot of it all. So, Facebook, please, just stop it, now, please, for the sake of the little children who haven't yet succumbed to your ample charms.
Linux To Gain Market Share
https://youtu.be/_gCwCOhMcog
Linux has been threatening to gain significant market share for several years now, but it never quite accomplishes that heady goal. That's even with Chrome OS, which is based on the Linux kernel, thrown in to the mix. Perhaps 2015 is the year of Linux. Just as 2014, 2013, 2012 etc. were the year of Linux.
More Competition Among ISPs
Don't blame @netflix if it's slow or not working cause your ISP is having problems.— Ernest Reardon (@ereardon) January 8, 2015
When one or two companies have a monopoly on something then the result is usually high prices and low satisfaction levels. Never has this been truer than with Broadband coverage in the United States, and it means many people are paying too much money for a shoddy service. Let's fix that, eh.
Google Fiber To Launch Worldwide
https://youtu.be/b_xRPA0CjJg
Perhaps Google Fiber is the answer. If only the search giant would bring Google Fiber to more locations.
Tablets To Make A Significant Leap Forward
With each year that passes, more and more people are buying tablets. The problem is the form factor isn't really evolving. At all. If tablets are to fulfill their potential as an alternative to laptops then we need the technology to take a significant leap forward. And fast.
Net Neutrality To Be Protected
https://youtu.be/fpbOEoRrHyU
There is a very real danger that in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, net neutrality could die a death. A quick and dirty death at the hands of ignorant politicians. This important element of the way the Internet currently works needs to be protected for future generations.
Mobile Devices To Offer Longer Battery Life
Any feedback on the iPhone 6 and its battery life? I have the 5s and I am constantly charging the damn thing.— ? Anushka Manchanda (@IAmAnushka) January 13, 2015
I think we can all (with the exception of Justin Pot) agree that smartphones are amazing. However, if there is one element to smartphones that the vast majority of people would agree needs changing, it's the painfully poor battery life offered by most manufacturers. Sort it out.
ReactOS To Be Finished
https://youtu.be/HGdf5ZNflyY
ReactOS, an open-source operating system that has been in development since 1998, really needs finishing. But it isn't, it's still in alpha testing and therefore "recommended only for evaluation and testing purposes." Yawn.
HTML5 Video To Become Standard
Can somebody please tell Facebook about this new HTML5 <video> thing?… pic.twitter.com/ULzaIZuvKp— Kuba Suder (@psionides) January 5, 2015
HTML5 videos are becoming more common across the Web, but they still cannot be considered as standard. Which is a shame because when they do become standard we can say goodbye to the Adobe Flash plugin forever. Happy days.
3D Everything To Die
https://youtu.be/vgPmmk_Ywfo
The new breed of 3D movies are much better than the 3D movies of old. But do you know what's even better? Standard 2D movies. Let's just end this whole sorry saga and accept that 3D is never going to be the first choice amongst film buffs, no matter how hard Hollywood pushes it.
Less Security Breaches On Websites
“it’s important to keep in mind that there’s a difference in a major security breach and the hacking of a twitter account”— cruz (@seavargas) January 13, 2015
2014 was a disastrous year as far as security breaches went, with major websites succumbing to hacks or DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks throughout the year. Let's hope that trend doesn't continue on into 2015, although I suspect the odds are heavily in favor of it doing so.
Cortana To Take Over The World
https://youtu.be/fme4i4-UOmY
Cortana is one hell of a woman. So much so that Christian Cawley lost his heart to this elegant piece of engineering. Surely the next step is world domination, with Cortana finally vanquishing that trollop Siri. For that to happen, you all need to give Windows Phone a chance.
Bendy Smartphones To Become A Thing
This bendy smartphone nonsense needs to stop.— Adam Mills (@admillios) October 2, 2014
When Apple launched the iPhone 6 Plus it inadvertently introduced the world to the first bendable smartphone. The problem is the iPhone 6 Plus wasn't built to bend. However, Apple has now patented a truly bendable smartphone, and where Apple leads, others follow.
Fanboys To Put Aside Their Differences
https://youtu.be/CnX36Qrc0WA
And finally, we hope 2015 is the year when fanboys of all descriptions put aside their petty differences once and for all. We know, it's a tough ask, especially when the Apple faithful are so smitten they may as well build a place of worship to Steve Jobs. But we still have hope.
Continue The Conversation
Our hope is that this list of 15 wishes for technology in 2015 will entertain, educate, and inspire you. Do you share these particular hopes? Or do you have your own you wish to share with the rest of the MakeUseOf readership? Either way, let us know your thoughts.
Please continue the conversation in the comments section below, telling us either what you think of the technology hopes we chose to include here, or, even better, suggesting your own hope(s) for the world of technology over the next 12 months. All comments will be read.
A Debt Of Gratitude
In order to compile this list of technology hopes for the next year, we received help from the MakeUseOf community. As always, our readers proved to be an invaluable part of the site you’re reading right now.
The readers we need to thank took the time to answer the question, What Are Your Hopes For Technology In 2015?, and their responses helped us compile this article. Noteworthy comments include those from Doc, Xoandre, likefunbutnot, and A41202813GMAIL.
Image Credits: Alexa LaSpisa via Flickr