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Photo courtesy of Motorola Inc.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Out after '09, In with '10
By Mass High Tech staff
MHT's Galen Moore: Cambridge Innovation Center celebrates 10th anniversary
MHT's Galen Moore: Six Mass. tech firms head to world economic forum
MHT's Galen Moore: Honoring innovation in New England
Mass High Tech staff members offered up their thoughts on which trends and technologies can fade away, or at least step back from the podium, with the passing of 2009, and what to watch for in the new year.
Out: iPhone — Easy to use, great service, pretty pics — it’s the popular girl you love to hate
In: Droid — Who cares about the phone? It’s open and it’s got Verizon’s network.
Out: Venture capital — The only thing worse than pinching our pennies is having a VC board member doing so, from his place on Nantucket.
In: Federal funding — Why save your pennies when your favorite uncle will help out?
Out: MBAs — A dime a dozen
In: Ph.D.s — Bypass the economy. Stay in school.
Out: Google— Acting more like Microsoft every day
In: Bing — Acting more like the Google of old every day
Out: Madoff’s money — Where did it go?
In: Madoff — In(mate). ’Nuff said.
Out: What-I-had-for-lunch Tweets — Nobody cares
In: Twitter apps — Managing the firehose down to size
Out: Any Series A Rounds — Time for bootstrapping
In: IPOs — Who’d a thunk it?
- "Aveo Pharma files for up to $86.3M IPO"
- "Ironwood looks to IPO, hopes for $172M"
- "Solar tech developer STR files for $212M IPO"
- "SS&C takes another crack at an IPO, looks for $300M"
Out: Jobs at Evergreen Solar— Literally “out,” as in “to China”
In: Jobs with Vestas— Wind market blowing stronger
Out: Mom saying “There are starving children in China. — Finish your meatloaf.”
In: Mom saying “There are starving children in the U.S. — Finish your lo mein.”
Out: Big pharma’s patents — Hello, generics
In: Big pharma’s love of researchers — Let’s be friends
Out: GPS — We’ll miss ‘em, but not the suction cup marks on the windshield
In: Nav-enabled phones — All-in-one is just fine
Out: Rolling robots — Even cavemen could do wheels
In: Flying robots — Why roll when you can hop and fly?
Out: “H,” as in hydrogen fuel cells — It’s been “the next big thing” since the ‘70s)
In: “H2O” — What’s cleaner than water technology?)
Out: Inventory — Because storage is for bytes, not boxes
In: Customization — Because buying is all about what YOU want
- "Sole Envie launches online customized shoe shopping"
- "Fashion Playtes sews up $1.5M in first VC funding"
Out: Thumb drives — Lost like car keys and socks in a dryer
In: Online backup — Folks like Carbonite do it for you
Out: Tweetups — Face it, they jumped the shark
In: Unconferences — New last year, better now
Out: Saying anything “jumped the shark” — Happy Days was a long time ago
In: VCs saying, “Small funds are better” — Sort of like, “Size doesn’t matter.” Much!
Out: Stealth — Another word for “I’m keeping my toys to myself”
In: Crowdsourcing — No one is smart enough to figure it all out themselves.
Out: Offices — Cafes, bars and shared-space incubators are collaborative and cheap
In: Office hours — Jury is still out on whether opening your doors at scheduled times is better than simply having an open-door policy
Out: Biotechs shifting to the suburbs — That is so last year
In: Biotechs setting up in Cambridge — That is so two years ago. (See a pattern here?)
Out: Muni wi-fi — Maybe not out, but still waiting in the wings?
In: Femtocells — Who needs real cell phone coverage when you can piggyback on your broadband (at a price of course)?
Out: Nanotech promises — “It’s a dessert topping AND a floor wax!”
In: Nanotech products — Some of these guys don’t have to promise any more. They’re actually doing it
Out: Recession — Let’s hope so
In: Recovery — Or is it stagnation?
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