Many websites and blogs publish their predictions for the year ahead. Not many of them review their predictions at the end of the year though. Even fewer score their previous set of predictions.
It would have been difficult to forecast what happened this year. But let’s see how those 2020 predictions fared in the oddest of years.
1. Alerts from voice assistants
I said that “At the end of 2019, the Google Home device in our kitchen started answers requests with more suggestions of other skills.”
I really enjoyed listening to the podcast below from McKinsey on the future of air travel.
There’s a balance in the airline industry between sustainability, profit and convenience.
There’s always a tension between safety and future technology. We have so much data about current materials and designs to help keep safety records extremely low. Should aircraft manufacturers design an entirely new, super efficient aircraft design but the safety data is less mature?
Will the future of air travel be electric (unlikely) or pilot-less (more likely)?
The two McKinsey partners on the podcast provide insight from their previous careers as airline pilots, and now advising airlines.
There are some good “Tips from pilots” at the end (at about 28 minutes), where they describe jet lag, packing less, whether to get a window or aisle seat, and eating on board (or not).
Packing lightly reduces your carbon footprint. Every kilogram removed from personal luggage reduces the aircraft’s carbon footprint.
Please share this post with your contacts because it makes me feel better.
Here are my technology predictions for 2020. I try to predict technology trends that are outside the mainstream, and with high expectations. It seems to get harder every year.
Every year I score my own previous year’s predictions– see how I fared for digital predictions for 2019 and work backwards. Hopefully my technology predictions for 2020 will fare a little better!
1. Alerts from voice assistants
Alexa practical jokes were invented in 2015
If 2018 was the year of mass adoption of Alexa and Google Home devices, 2019 was the year of releasing a lot more skills. At the end of 2019, the Google Home device in our kitchen started answers requests with more suggestions of other skills. Cross-selling perhaps.
But this is nothing compared to where these devices are heading. I predict that by the end of 2020 these devices will be making proactive recommendations to us.
“Rain is due today, take an umbrella.”
“You still have 30 unread emails, why not deal with some of them?”
“You ordered XYZ from Amazon recently, and it’s due to arrive today”.
2. Wearables beyond your wrist
In 2020 we’ll see many more wearable devices.
In 2019, several devices for pets became available, from activity trackers to GPS trackers to smart collars.
Next year we’ll start seeing many more devices, such as spectacles from Vue or ByNorth (my favourites). With the announcement of the iPhone 12, we’ll probably hear Apple launch a new type of wearable beyond the Apple Watch.
