The Worst Technology Prognostications of 2010: My Own

I once fearlessly predicted that Facebook and Twitter would have little value to business, and a Kindle without color was doomed. Strike 1, 2, and 3. At my next at-bat, here is what I said on this very blog about Apple's iPad:

"At first blush, I think Apple has missed the mark with the iPad. There is little new here (just bigger and fancier), no killer app, and the cost puts it closer to a laptop than an iPod Touch. What is my compelling reason to put down my MacBook and buy an iPad? None, that I can see. Yet."

Where did I go wrong? I looked at the iPad as a product extension rather than as a new way of computing, one that Dell and a whole host of PC makers are scrambling to copy. For consuming the Web and accessing apps, the iPad is a delight to use, and, like a magazine or newspaper, there is no boot-up time. Just pick it up and start using it.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, one of Harvard Business School's leading experts on innovation, agrees that the iPad represents more than just a successful product launch. She writes:

"It also signified important technological directions that are reshaping other industries. The iPad extends and accelerates the webification of life whereby devices can connect to the 'cloud' and provide functions on a mobile, as-needed basis. There is no more need to embed them in the guts of a stationary device. This makes an enormous amount of computing power available to individuals and small businesses and continues the importance of apps that can be accessed directly. The existence of the iPad extends and accelerates the trend toward digital content such as e-books and downloadable newspapers and magazines."

Can you match my dismal record of tech prognostication? What do you think was the hottest tech product of 2011?

(Photo by Flickr user cogdogblog, CC 2.0)