2014 Tech Predictions Revisited

January 3, 2015 — by Per Christensson

Last December, I made my top five tech predictions for 2014. It's time to see how I fared.

1. No Apple iWatch – This prediction turned out to be partially correct, since Apple isn't releasing a watch until this year. However, they did announce the "Apple Watch," which I didn't expect, so I guess this guess was half right.
2. Apple iPhone with 5.5" Display – I nailed the dimensions of the new iPhone 6 Plus and was also right about the curved shape, but I expected Apple to name the new model something different. Another half right prediction.
3. Bing > 30% Market Share – My boldest prediction didn't come true. Bing only climbed to about 20% market share. But Microsoft is still gaining on Google, which could make things interesting if the trend continues.
4. Cloud Storage – Companies like Microsoft and Apple helped make cloud storage mainstream in 2014. Microsoft integrated OneDrive into Windows 8.1 and Apple integrated iCloud into OS X 10.10 (Yosemite). Both implementations now allow you to access a cloud-based file system, which means you can access your files stored in the cloud as easily as the files on your local disk. Pretty cool.
5. 3D Printers – While 3D printers didn't become mainstream in 2014, they did start showing up in retail stores, like I predicted. Still, I don't know anyone who owns a 3D printer, so I can only take half a point for this one.

After doing the math, it looks like I got one prediction right and three predictions half right, for a total score of 2.5 out of 5. While 50% isn't great, my goal was to make predictions other people wouldn't, since there is no point in predicting the obvious. Most importantly, companies like Google, Apple, Amazon, and Tesla continued to push technology forward in 2014 and that benefits us all.