Here’s what we cared about in 2018
Smartphone sales dropped in 2018 and that was only one change, writes Blayne Slabbert.
This year was a critical one for tech as the tide turned against big companies and the industry experienced a slowdown.
After 10 years of huge profits, cool gadgets and willing consumers, many tech firms faced challenges that indicate the time of unregulated behaviour and unprecedented growth are over.
This could be a good thing for consumers as they become more educated about how tech influences their lives, though there were fewer big leaps in technology that benefit their everyday lives.
Here are some of the personal tech trends and gadgets that had the biggest impact this year.
Internet population
This year the world reached a major milestone – half of the population is now online.
If you live a digital-infused life it may come as a surprise that many people aren’t connected, but the digital divide is still a challenge in many countries.
The internet has the potential to transform society, allowing greater access to information. However, with trust in tech companies at a low point, let’s hope having more people online benefits rather than hinders them.
Facebook fails
The biggest bad guy in tech this year was Facebook. While still popular, the social media company had a calamitous year.
It began with the Cambridge Analytica scandal and ended with the company admitting it lied about sharing users’ data with third-party developers. In between there were several other privacy and data breaches.
The company and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg have lost billions due to the problems but it hasn’t yet presented a solution to stem the flood of bad news. At the moment your best bet is to delete your account.
Video stabilisation
It’s becoming rarer to see a leap in tech that affects our everyday tech life but the new GoPro did that.
The GoPro Hero7 Black has video stabilisation so good that you get record smooth footage even when jiggling around.
While video stabilisation has been around for a while, GoPro has made it so good you don’t need a gimbal (handheld stabilisation device) any more.
That tech will soon come to smartphones and hopefully put an end to all the shaky movies people post online.
Fortnite fiasco
Fortnite was the bane of many parents’ lives this year as youngsters begged to get the game and then spent hours playing it.
The game was the first to be so popular on a range of devices and a range of age groups. It has the winning components: being free, easy gameplay, with social appeal, and the battle royale feature where the last player standing is the winner.
It may fade away as Pokemon Go did or breed more games that kids can pester their parents for.
It should also be noted that this year the World Health Organisation added ‘‘internet gaming disorder’’ to its list of psychiatric diagnoses.
Smart speakers
While smart speakers have been around for a while, the first dedicated New Zealand version went on sale here early this year.
The Amazon Echo is currently the most popular model, though Google’s Home speaker is the fastest-growing.
Kiwis have been slow to buy them even though 42 per cent of smart speaker owners in the United States say that they’re essential to their everyday lives.
Smartphone decline
For the first time in a decade, the sales of our favourite gadget were lower than the year before.
Most markets have reached saturation points and manufacturers are pushing hard to get customers to keep on buying phones.
The good news is that you’ll hang on to your current phone longer as there are fewer musthave features but the bad news is that companies will increase their prices to maintain their profit margins.
Electric scooters
Despite quite a few spills, the arrival of electric scooters in New Zealand has been a good thing.
There are a few issues to work through but using small battery powered vehicles is only going to get more popular.
The rise of mirrorless
After holding out for several years, Nikon and Canon finally released mirrorless camera models aimed at the enthusiasts.
While not their first foray into mirrorless, this was the first time the two Japanese camera giants looked like they were actually trying.
All cameras – Canon’s Eos R and Nikon’s Z6 and Z7 – were well received and their release signalled a turning point away from traditional DSLR cameras.
This move will increase as the Canon and Nikon, which still dominate camera, also includes the mirrorless tech in more affordable models.
4K gets popular
This year televisions with 4K dominated showroom floors as the tech became more affordable.
4K, or ultra-high definition, gives a sharper picture with more detail, and this year most people buying a new television would’ve bought into this technology.
Unfortunately, there is still a lack of 4K content in New Zealand. Netflix is the only streaming service or broadcaster to offer it.
This will hopefully change next year as fibre becomes more common and as the competition for television viewers’ attention heats up.