The year has finally drawn to a close. The new year looms large. For everybody out there, it’s a time to reflect – to look back on the year and think about what we did right and, perhaps more frequently,what we did not-so-right. But the end of the year isn’t just about lamenting all the stuff we wish we’d done differently. It’s also about appreciating what we’ve learned. Since we focus on tech news here, we thought we’d take some time to assemble this list of 6 things we learned about technology in 2014. Here’s hoping we can apply them wisely to the coming year:
- Tech advances mean crime advances too: Maybe you pay for all your groceries with your smartphone now. Or perhaps you store every file you have in the cloud. But as much as tech has benefited you this year, it’s made criminals pretty happy too. Just look at the Target hack, an incident that led to 110 million customers having their information compromised. How did the Target breach happen? Because cybercriminals are more advanced than ever.
- People love their Apple products – rabidly: Want to know how quickly humans can abandon any pretense of civility and become utterly debased? Well, we recommend you just stand in line at the next Apple product launch. The debut of the iPhone 6 in September proved just how insane people can get in order to hold the newest Apple gadget in their hands. Various clips show people being violently restrained, fights breaking out, and police descending on the scene to meat out some justice. It wasn’t a pretty picture, and it was certainly a far cry from the vision of humanity that Apple ads are known to capture.
- Movies can debut online now – and rake in $$$: Technology may have given life to a new wave of cybercrime, but it’s also opened the Internet up more as a means of distribution for popular entertainment. This was proven in December when the film “The Interview” opened to a successful online reception after threats of violence from hackers derailed its planned theatrical release.
- A watch is no longer a watch: Remember when your grandfather gave you his prized Rolex? Well put that in the family treasure chest, because that’s no longer the watch you’re going to be using. Thanks to the release of the Pebble and the upcoming debut of the Apple Watch and other smartwatches, these tech-forward wrist companions are taking the time-telling world by storm. Whereas normal watches could only tell time, Pebble can tell you how fit you are. Now that’s a watch for our times.
- Everyone gets hacked: Over the past year, have you received an email telling you your personal data has been compromised? If you haven’t, consider yourself very lucky. With massive breaches at places like Target, Neiman Marcus, Home Depot, eBay and Dropbox, it’s clear that pretty much everybody who powers up the Web is susceptible to attack. Ultimately, though, all this means is that people need to be more cautious about sharing their personal data online.
- We’re one step closer to robot perfection: Depending on your feelings toward robots, 2014 was either a great or terrifying year. If you’ve read too much Isaac Asimov and are already planning for the robot revolt, then our sympathies, but for everyone else, advances in robotics have largely been cause for excitement. As an MIT Technology Review piece pointed out, “2014 saw major strides in machine learning software that can gain abilities from experience. Companies in sectors from biotech to computing turned to these new techniques to solve tough problems or develop new products.”
