The New Technological Frontier

At the risk of dating myself (as a young-ish 22 year old…), can I ask the question, “What will they come up with next?!”?

I have to admit, I am a little behind- technologically.  Trying to change that as best as I can.  After having little luck with FourSquare, I downloaded Gowalla for my iPhone to join in the new phenomenon of “GPS tracking our every move in a game form.”  And, like McDonald’s would say, I’m lovin’ it.

GPS tracking "games," like Gowalla, are a trend to watch in 2010.

After doing some research on both “games” and finding no substantial reason to chose one over the other, I chose to explore Gowalla because a) I had already downloaded it and b) it had better ratings in the iPhone App store.  So far, so good.  I love the badges received for checking in to different places, a feature I know that FourSquare has also.  For now, though, Gowalla has been a great (free) download and I can’t wait to explore this game even more.

Pete Cashmore of Mashable wrote a feature for CNN, which gave his 10 web trends to look for in 2010.  And, low and behold, the second trend is GPS tracking with services like Gowalla.  Working in an industry where communication vehicles are consistently changing and evolving, I have to ask the inevitable question of what will developers come up with next (if you couldn’t tell, I love asking questions).

From touchscreen phones to tablet computers to GPS tracking via phone applications, what technological frontier hasn’t be explored yet? Are there any other trends to look for in 2010?

4 Ways Social Media is Changing the World

Social media is changing the world, that goes without saying.  Here are four stories from this week about how it is doing just that.

1.  First Network, Then Cable, Now There’s ‘Social TV’-  Television producers are now trying to incorporate social media use in conjunction with broadcast and increase their audiences.  John Moore, exec VP-director of media services at Interpublic Group’s Mullen agency, believes that there will be a social media component built into television within the next 10 years.  I’m surprised this hasn’t been discussed and brought up already…

2.  Mobile Ads: Wait Until Next Year- Recently, Google just bought out AdMob (the biggest competitor to Baltimore based Millennial Media, where quite a few of my fellow graduates work now).  And while the article cites that mobile advertising remains a tiny fraction of the industry, the numbers will increase- though not until next year.

3.  Social Media Can Change The World Through Common Ground- Using social media for social good.  Enough said.

4.  Atlantis Space Shuttle Launch will be Twittered Live- 100 Twitter-ers from NASA will be tweeting about the shuttle launch.  And astronauts have already been Twittering from space?  Where will Twitter go now?!?!

Did I pick good stories?  What other stories should have been included?