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Top 10 Software Stories of 2021
Quick Explanations and Takes

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2021-12-30
It's been a hell of a year, technology-wise. To be fair, every year in the 21th century brings about exponentially more change. There are so many trends in hardware and software that need to be paid attention to.

I chose 10 developments and included a link to a story that does a great job of explaining the issue ... followed by a pithy, snarky or pessimistic observation of mine. Bah humbug.


More IT Tracking Of Employees
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/24/new-tech-tools-employers-are-using-to-keep-watch-on-remote-workers.html
My Two Cents: Post-COVID digital surveillance of remote workers may increase enterprise risk. Overzealous monitoring of employees may push them to use outside IT solutions, apps, etc. and actually increase businesses risk.


Windows 11 And 2025 End Of Life For Windows 10
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/windows-10-support-ends-in-4-years-but-this-is-what-you-should-know-now/
My Two Cents: 2025 isn't an absolute drop-dead date. One of our development machines is still on Windows 7 and interacting fine with just about everything. But when buying hardware, software and planning projects, make sure to address your operating system in plans.


Web3
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2301706-what-is-web3-and-how-will-it-change-the-way-we-use-the-internet/
My Two Cents: The buzzword of "Web3" really just means using block-chain technology. Allegedly more distributed computing will bring back the hope of the democratized internet; I'm a little pessimistic.


NFTs
https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft-explainer-what-is-blockchain-crypto-art-faq
My Two Cents: Non-fungible tokens had promise to help artists and create a collector market. They still may encounter crazes like baseball cards or tulips (read your history). But just like Web 1.0, centralized tech giants will probably be the main people making money.


Quantum Computing
https://www.sciencealert.com/quantum-computers
My Two Cents: Everything about this is still a mystery to me: Where quantum computing will take us, and also the mechanics of how this kind of computing predicts items' properties and behavior before it happens. I'm going to need 2022 to wrap my head around this more.


No-Code Software
https://kissflow.com/low-code/no-code/no-code-overview/
My Two Cents: My analogy is to remember how you used to have to know HTML code to make a website in 1998 then WYSIWYG html editors (and, later, CMS systems like WordPress) made it possible for most people to make their own websites ... whereas coders can still do more sophisticated ones; that's how coding itself is going to be in the years to come.


AI (Artificial Intelligence)
https://www.iqvis.com/blog/9-powerful-examples-of-artificial-intelligence-in-use-today/
My Two Cents: You don't need to be scared of general AI, read that article above ... you're already using it a ton. As for computers programming computers, then be scared.


Facebook Becoming Meta
https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/why-facebook-is-now-called-meta
My Two Cents: Virtual reality and augmented reality was always on the way well before Mark Zuckerberg. How much we really end up in a Meta Metaverse is up for debate; if we get there, then prepare for it to be glitchy as hell.


Deepfakes, AI And Beauty Standards
https://www.voguebusiness.com/companies/how-deepfakes-could-change-fashion-advertising-influencer-marketing
My Two Cents: You thought Madison Avenue has been able to make women feel insecure about their appearance for the past 50 years. Just wait for the future.


Huge Company Tech Fails
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/23/tech/biggest-tech-fails-2021/index.html
My Two Cents: I love reminding small companies how often tech giants miss the mark. There are no perfect systems. Your goal is to avoid rookie mistakes and unforced errors.