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Why 2014 Will be the Most Exciting Tech Year in Decades
2013 has been one exciting year. We have seen many ideas spring up, with the help of crowdfunding as well as faster computer speeds. 2014 however should be a year for the ages, technologically speaking. We will likely see more technological progress in 2014 than we have in decades. Here are some of the technologies which excite me for the coming year ahead are:
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3D Printers:
After all, this is the "3D Printing Board." In the last year we have seen remarkable growth in the industry, however things are just heating up. 2014 will be the year that 3D Printing hits the mainstream in a big way. More and more retail outlets are adding printers, including Office Depot which just added printers in 150 stores nationwide. Expect many other stores to begin not only selling 3D Printers, but offering 3D Printing services to the general public cheaply. Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Staples, Office Max, and Best Buy are all possibilities. Look for some remarkable gains within the bio-printing realm as well. The competition is heating up, and that means better, faster, cheaper printers for us all! Here is a look at how often the term "3D Printing" has been used in news stories since 2005:
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Virtual Reality - Oculus Rift:
Although 2013 saw the very first Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headsets ship, it won't be until the second half of 2014 before these headsets begin seeing mass adoption. Virtual reality is about to get extremely real. Oculus VR has raised tens of millions of dollars in the last few months from Venture capitalists, and are currently hiring far and wide. Expect the technology to progress significantly, and expect to see many games and applications developed for the this excitingTechnology.
Wearables:
2014 will forever be known as the year of the Wearables. The two most exciting products will be the Apple iWatch as well as Google Glass. Expect to see Google Glass go on sale to the general public, and expect to find some pretty innovative tech built into the new "iWatch" that Apple will likely release sometime before July. Both These products will change the world as we know it, in what some will say are positive and negative ways. Expect Google Glass to become a mainstay product within the corporate world before slowly seeing mainstream adoption. There will be massive improvements with Google Glass from where the product is at today in the Beta test phase, and hundreds of Apps will become available by year's end.
Crowdfunding:
The start of 2014 will usher in legal equity crowdfunding for those not making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in the US. This means the general public will be able to fund the projects they want, for actual equity stakes in the companies. This means many opportunities will see the light of day, adding funding for hundreds, or even thousands of new breakthroughs in technology. Look for the second half of 2014 to really see an explosion in the equity crowdfunding arena.
Internet Of Things Truly Begin:
We've been talking about the "Internet of Things" for probably close to 8 years now, however just recently, especially this year chatter has picked up in a big way. Companies like Cisco, IBM, and Intel have been investing heavily in the last 2 years leading up to this point. 2014 will see an explosion of devices connected to the internet, and the "Internet of Things," will finally be truly defined by year's end. You will see vehicles, clothing, toilets, air conditioners, and pretty much anything else you can imagine begin connecting with the internet and providing Data which will eventually save the world trillions of dollars per year. Below is a graph of the number of times "Internet of Things" have been used in news stories since 2005:
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