Well 2009 is almost over and what a year it's been in the technology industry. This year we saw two major policy announcements by the Rudd Government that are set to shape the future of our entire communications in this country.
The first bombshell of the year came back in April when Kevin Rudd announced his new vision for the National Broadband Network (NBN). No longer was the plan to offer Fibre to the Node (FTTN), the new plan was to offer 100 megabit Fibre to the Home (FTTH) access for 98% of the nation. The remaining 2% would be delivered by wireless and satellite technology, ensuring that Australia's communications would well and truly be future proofed.
Also announced was that the NBN was to be a wholesale only network, delighting everyone in the industry, except of course Telstra who holds a retail and wholesale monopoly over the existing copper network.The NBN is to come at a cost though at almost $42 billion it's been likened to the Snowy River Hydro Electric scheme of the 90's.
The other big announcement from the Government came in the form of their Internet Service Provider (ISP) level mandatory filtering trials. This caused the biggest debate of the year amongst technology savvy citizens, technology pundits, network engineers, ISP's, child safety advocates and religious groups. The issue was so hotly debated that Stephen Conroy was voted the Internet Villain of the Year and labelled Australia's Worst Communications Minister ever.
It was highly criticised that the trial was flawed and the results are still unknown and haven't been publicly released. We expect to hear more about this policy during 2010.
We saw a major shift at Telstra with the departure of Sol "Satan" Trujillo who arguably was the company's worst CEO of all time. Refusing to co-operate with the government and watching Telstra's stock price halve and slide below $4.00, his reign will be remembered for high prices and bad customer service.
This year saw the much anticipated release of Windows 7. Microsoft worked hard to release the new operating system and down play the failings of Windows Vista. The release of Windows 7 also signalled the end of sale of Windows XP, finally laid to rest 8 years after it was released to market. Windows 7 has reaped praise from the entire technology community and Microsoft hopes to recover on the back of the good news it has received.
Apple released the new iPhone 3GS, a much faster iPhone than the previous 3G model and also increased capacity introducing a 32GB model and slashing prices on the 8GB and 16GB 3G models. Similarly Motorola also came out with its CDMA Droid smart phone based on the Google Android mobile operating system. Motorola's release heated up the smart phone battle in the US with the Droid expected to be released in GSM form for world markets next year.
PIPE Networks connected their Australia to Guam undersea cable, heralding a new competitive link leading to reduced Internet prices. Similarly Bass Link also got off the ground, the first part-privately owned cable from mainland Australia to Tasmania, signalling the end of Telstra's overpriced monopoly on the route.
Australia's third largest Internet Service Provider, iiNet was taken to court by a group of Hollywood heavyweights including Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Disney Enterprises, Seven Network and Twentieth Century Fox. The group collectively known as AFACT or The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft allege that iiNet hasn't done enough to curb piracy on their network with the court case still ongoing and an announcement expected sometime early in the new year. The outcome of the case is expected to set a precedent in the way that ISP's manage users who may be downloading pirated material.
We also saw a massive rise in social networking site Twitter this year as it came into play during the Iran Elections. Many criticised the mainstream news organisations for failing to properly report the story with leaked images, video and messages coming through of civil unrest in the country that unfolded after the election was allegedly rigged.
The year also saw the biggest entertainment release of all time, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, estimated to have made US$310 million in the UK and North America in its opening week. In stark comparison, the biggest movie to date, Batman: The Dark Knight, took in US$155 million in its opening week.
That's my take on the 2009 technology year in review. What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.
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