5 Signs that tech in 2012 will be nothing like we thought

Apple launched its Macintosh personal computer in 1984 with its much published TV campaign “Why 1984 will not be like 1984”. The campaign used an unnamed heroine to represent the coming of the Macintosh as a means of saving humanity from conformity. The slogan played to ones emotions of standing up against ‘Big Brother’, IBM at the time, by buying a Mac. More importantly it served to announce the fact that after the arrival of the Apple Macintosh that 1984 would, not be as you would expect “1984” to be.

Yes, 2012 is already in full swing but are there already some trends from 2011 and before that mean “2012 could not be like 2012”. As a consumer this could change the way you go about your daily life while for a startup or business owner it might be worth asking yourself if you are positioned to benefit from these shifts.

Google’s challenger
With Google’s “Mocali-gate” one is already seeing the signs that the public image of Google may be shifting from one of “Mr nice guy” to “Mr nice guy that could beat you up”. As Google grows bigger it is starting to no longer present the image of a brand that is personal and human but rather that of being another big corporate monopoly. With Google’s growing empire its challenge is to maintain that image. The magnitude of the task requires more than just changing their homepage logo with a new gimmick every month and as such, if they don’t succeed, 2012 may be the dawning of a new Google?

Local community
The 1980s, 90s and early 2000s made the world seem like a small place where a country over 5 000 miles away is our neighbour and we are all one community. As such many organisations starting labelling everyone under one banner, creating products that fitted all regardless of where you lived. More and more consumers are starting to realise that despite sharing common characteristics with our “5 000 mile neighbour” that we are in fact different. We have different needs and values. We don’t want the 900ml Starbuck coffee that suits Americans’ needs and prefer our local café where Bob, the owner, remembers us and our order. In fact, we are realising that although the world is small the reality is that we spend the majority of our time in our local community.
2012 may be the year where the global players realise that rather than buying out and rebranding local businesses that keeping that local feel is better.

Less is more
In certain industries this may not be a new trend, just look at the design of certain Apple’s products or how web design has shifted from screaming popups and banners to the offerings of flipboard. In others, like the cellphone and marketing industry, it appears that less is still not more. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get a cellphone where reception and battery life were priority number one? Or, imagine a world where no marketing existed unless you decided you wanted to look for something. No more continual interruptions as we go about our daily life instead of being screamed at through every medium possible that a brand can find.

Consumers are realising more and more that “quiet” and “simplicity” is maybe just as good or if not better than “loud” and “complexity”. 2012 may be the year where more industries realise this.

Emerging Markets
As traditional ‘first world’ markets become more saturated the “big boys” are shifting their attention to emerging markets. The cell phone companies are already all cards in and other industries are following. The challenge though is lots of people with no money. Therefore, to get consumers to part with their cash is much harder than just running a ‘Black Friday’ sale where consumers in America run out to buy endless junk just because it is cheap. Brands need to understand the needs and wants of the emerging market consumers and as many are realising these needs are very different to what they have traditionally been exposed to in other markets.

The space is right for an “emerging market Google” that understands what the market needs. This could mean the rise of an emerging market powerhouse to compete with the traditional global players.

Business models
The challenge for IT industry is not only what new product to develop but more importantly how you can make money off it. Google introduced pay-per-click, Groupon introduced paying for a piece of paper for a deal while Kickstarter and others introduced crowdfunding. Interestingly rumours are rumbling that Twitter is currently struggling to turn user numbers into revenues given the actual time that a user spends on the site.

2012 is sure to follow recent trends where we see not only the launch of a new gadget that revolutionises an industry but also new business models that revolutionise the way they make money.