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Friday, December 27, 2013

As we leave 2013 behind us



by Mark Ollig


Alright, here we are at the end of another year; and yes, I will say it, “Where did this year go?”

When I was 30 years younger, I recall being given this pearl of wisdom by someone in their middle 50’s, “Enjoy each year, because when you get to my age, you will find the years going by much faster than you do now.”

Today, I fully understand what this means.

So, it’s going to be 2014 on Wednesday – I can deal with that . . . really, I can.

After typing “2014” and staring at it for a few seconds, for some reason, it caused me to think about the following year; 2015.

Gosh, 2015 is getting closer to Buck Rogers and Star Trek territory, isn’t it? I mean, 2015 looks so futuristic when one looks at it.

Where did 2014 go? It seems like we just started it.

Wait a minute Mark, this new year, 2014, hasn’t gone by us quite that fast – yet.

Possibly, I have some kind of number phobia.

This might be a result of working in the telephone business for too many years, as I deal with numbers every day.

At one time, yours truly had memorized most of the telephone numbers for the local businesses in his hometown; not only that, he could recall many of the cable pair numbers, too. (Physical set of wires used from the telephone company central office to the location where the telephone line terminates).

As I write this column, we are just days away from 2014; and, for some reason, my mind jumped back, and is now stuck in 1984.

Just think . . . George Orwell’s book written about the frightening futuristic year 1984, is about to become 30 years behind us.

Even more amazing, Orwell was writing this book back in 1948, and it was published in 1949.

While we are nostalgically remembering 1984, let’s re-visit some of music we listened to.

In 1984, the top songs included Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose,” Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” Van Halen’s “Jump,” The Culture Club’s popular “Karma Chameleon,” and, of course, who could forget this song (and movie of the same name) by Ray Parker Jr., “Ghostbusters”.

While visiting Billboard’s website, I did a search and found the number-one ranked song for 1984 was recorded by Minnesota’s own artist, Prince, called “When Doves Cry.”

For 1983, Billboard had the song, “Every Breath You Take,” by the group Police, as number one.

Gosh, has it really been 30 years since we first heard Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” on the radio?

For 2013, Billboard’s top artist is Bruno Mars, who, by the way, once held the title as the “Youngest Elvis Impersonator.”

Billboard selected “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, as the number one song for 2013.

One singer (many of you know I always enjoy listening to) holds the title for the largest selling Christmas album of all time. Yes, it is Elvis, and his 1957 “Elvis Christmas Album,” which to date has sold over 10 million copies.

But, I digress.

So, what technology can we expect to hear more about in 2014?

No doubt, Google Glass will be one of them, as it is still on schedule to make its appearance to the public early in 2014.

You may recall from my May 6 column how Google Glass is worn like eyeglasses. There is a small glass display cube attached to the upper-right side of an aluminum headband containing computing processing capabilities. This is where the wearer looks to see the information being presented.

And, of course, we will see new Apple iPhones and iPads – possible new size configurations may be offered to us.

I also forecast we will be seeing some new wearable technology. Perhaps, Apple will bring us its much anticipated iWatch.

In June 2012, I wrote how someday “many of us may be sporting a personal health monitoring sensor, or an environmental measuring device, or an entertainment or social media interface, or some other type of application on a flexible, organic, electronic video display screen – wearable or interwoven into our clothing.”

Will 2014 be the year we begin seeing organic electronics being used in wearables?

Advanced electronic sensors will be connecting more of the home and business appliances we use in our daily lives to the Internet; we will access these sensors for their information.

In 2014, expect to see more nanotechnology breakthroughs.

We will also become more comfortable storing and retrieving our personal information from the Cloud.

The year 2014 looks to be an exciting time for those of us who love technology, so stay tuned.

As we boldly embark into this brand new year, I offer the young people this pearl of wisdom, “Enjoy each year, because when you get to my age, you will find the years going by much faster than you do now.”

My New Year’s wish for all is to have a very happy, safe, successful, healthy, and excitingly technology-filled 2014.