New Year Predictions
1. Apple Tech, pipe dream? My first Apple iPad was a gift, a perfect gift at that, as it was a device that I would never have bought for myself, yet I’ve found useful to the point of almost indispensable as I’ve upgraded over the years.
Only had one for a for few years, but like the now all-too-ubiquitous iPhone, “Don’t leave home without it.” The electronic leash.
Anymore, I tend to use the iPhone for almost all of my daily photo tasks. With the latest system upgrade, the little “drop-sync-share” thing, factory installed, that works for moving images from the phone to the iPad for tweaking and uploading.
With this, there’s been an emergence of convergence, where tablets (like the iPad and its rivals) get smaller while the phones (like the iPhone and its rivals) get larger. Enter the “phablet,” (previously alluded to here.)(1)
The predictions are two-fold, drawn from various reliable and not-so-reliable sources, the Inter-Nets.
1. An iPad pro with an 11-inch screen, maybe just short of 12 X 8.5, like, the size of a clipboard for an 11 X 8 and 1/2 paper. American letter standard. Optional keyboard.
2. iPhone 6, larger, longer, bigger screen, maybe edge-to-edge, maybe curved screen, better battery life. Bigger. Fabulous – Tablet – Phone, aka, “phablet.”
Noticeably missing from my predictions is an iWatch. Seriously? I quit wearing watches most of the time, for two reasons, the main being, I’m writer and a wristwatch interferes with my typing. Then, too, it’s just another piece of jewelry I don’t want to lose.
2. Politics? Follow the money. With the Cardinal Influence, especially at the start of the year? Follow who gives what funds to whom. Spells out much about influence and who owns what media.
“Fair and balanced?” My lily-white backside.(2)
3. South of the Border, melodically, “Down Mexico way…”
One buddy refers to San Antonio as “Little Mexico.” Not exactly an endearing term, but that’s his terminology, not mine, as I see SA as a confluence of cultures, old world, older world, new age, etc.
However, my frequent work in El Paso does put me closer to that world. Simple prediction, a massive, emotional blow-up, maybe a physical blow-up as well, between government Federales and putative drug cartel soldiers.
The culture of violence replaces the original goals, which were monetary, and that specter of carnage will play out one, last time, probably this spring.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but March-June be the best time to avoid the known, or suspected, hotspots.
4. Emerging Super Food like last year? It was Kale. Dark Chocolate, always perennial favorite for super foods, and recently, in the last few years? Quinoa.
So in the coming year, there’s going to be a new super food announced. Probably from an indigenous group, the “ancient secret food” that prevented illness, cured ailments, and made for a better life. Most likely a grain-like plant, but never forget that Mexican Pond scum became the first new super food of the new age.
New Super Food, coming soon to a Whole Foods/Trader Joe’s near you.
- (1) End of the last November, statistic that I read was 80-90% of shopping traffic was iPads/iPhones, and from my experience, probably iPads.
- (2) “Show me the money!”
astrofish.net and its family of websites participate in affiliate programs, which means there are material connections between the ads, and Sky Friday.
Full disclosure, pursuant to the fineprint.
Vincit Qui Primum Gerit