The Best and Worst of Tech in 2008

[Mr. HiDef]

The Best and Worst of Tech in 2008

Starting at January's giant Consumer Electronics Show, this year has brought a stream of substantial and sometimes silly technology designed to entertain us, inform us, or simply separate us from our money. Some of the best might still make good holiday presents, except for those looking for a more frugal list. The worst might best be forgotten.

The Best

These stars arrived with breakthrough technology:
Hybrid Electric Bikes

Hopping on the Giant Twist Freedom DX ($2,000) produces a "wow" moment in technology. An electric motor subtly eases pedaling and automatically disengages when pedaling is stopped. With a range of 70 miles on its rechargeable batteries, the bike can take the sweat out of a two-wheel commute. Less expensive versions are available from Currie Technologies, and a high-style model comes from Pi Mobility.

Geotagging

The Eye-Fi Explore ($130) not only adds 2 GB of memory to a digital camera but also links a camera wirelessly to a Wi-Fi access point--and "geotags" each photo with location data. Geotagging makes it easy to map your travels, though the Explore depends on a database of Wi-Fi access points that largely limits its reach to metro areas. The bulkier ATP Photo Finder ($100) packs a more accurate and wider-reaching GPS receiver.

Superthin TV

The Sony XEL-1 is startling not only for its ultrathin screen but the image that it produces, which is better than any LCD's or plasma's. Only one-eighth-inch thick, the first screen made with organic light-emitting diodes is also only 11 inches wide. But it comes with an outsize price tag of $2,500. Competitors are expected soon that should help shrink prices and expand screen sizes.

Extra-Fast Cameras

Casio introduced consumers to super slow motion with the Casio Exilim EX-F1 ($1,000), which can shoot 60 frames per second of high-definition stills. It can also shoot standard-def video at an astonishing 1,200 frames a second. A newer sibling, the EX-FH20 ($600), trims those speeds a bit to 40 frames and 1,000 frames, respectively. Samsung's HMX20C ($850) is a video camera with its own super slo-mo at 300 frames a second.

Dot Reading

The Leapfrog Tag Reading System ($50) is a penlike stylus that reads aloud from children's books, either the whole story or a word at a time. Tapping pictures adds dialogue and songs, and bonus games help keep kids engaged. The system uses paper covered with tiny dots to know where the pen is focused. The Pulse Smartpen from Livescribe ($150) uses the same dot system, sort of in reverse. It records audio as the pen writes notes. Tapping the notes later replays the related audio.

The Worst

These duds included fumbles and foibles:

Overpriced Movies

Yes, the picture from Blu-ray disks is the best available to mere mortals, and the audio rocks. But greedy manufacturers fumbled what was to be the format's big year after it vanquished competitor HD DVD. Until recent weeks, few if any players could be found for less than $200. Even now, those usually come crippled with no Internet connection and slow-starting hardware. The format might thrive in 2009, but competitors are gaining, and standard DVDs look good enough to most folks.

Destroyed Data

The failure of the Linkup service is a warning that no single backup is enough protection for valuable data. Once called Streamload and then MediaMax, the service offered free and paid accounts for storing digital media. But a botched transfer committed the cardinal sin of deleting user files, and then the company went out of business. Honorable mention to Apple's MobileMe for also losing user data in its messy rollout, but at least the company stuck around to apologize.

A Bit Poorer

A German developer posted a $999.99 application to Apple's new iPhone software store that did nothing but let buyers shout, "I Am Rich," which was its title. The software sold to eight buyers before Apple deleted it from the App Store. Two reportedly got their money back after they said they made the purchase in error. But developer Armin Heinrich stood to pocket $4,200 after Apple took its 30 percent cut.

Wet USB Drive

A thumb drive with sloshing liquid inside is undeniably eye-catching. That serves the goal of the folks at CNK Promotions, which sells the drive in bulk with a printed message or logo of your choice. But it seems like a bad idea for the technology. Assuming the memory chip itself is sealed and protected from whatever is splashing about, too many people shove USB drives into a pants pocket. How to explain the big wet spot on your hip?

Bulky Phones

Smartphones like the iPhone 3G and BlackBerry Storm have an excuse for being a bit hefty. But the Motorola Z9 shows that some manufacturers continue to churn out handsets with more brawn than brains. The device is as big as or bigger than full-featured smartphones but offers little more than smaller, equally powerful handsets. Others also sell for considerably less than the $100 charged by AT&T for the Z9, after rebate and with contract.

Saw this article on yahoo couldnt believe that Blu-ray was on the worst list

[scweb13]

Originally Posted by Mr. HiDef

Saw this article on yahoo couldnt believe that Blu-ray was on the worst list

I don't think they meant Blu-ray itself, just the high price of the movies discs. They even said the PQ was the best available and the AQ rocked.

[toef]

Originally Posted by scweb13

I don't think they meant Blu-ray itself, just the high price of the movies discs. They even said the PQ was the best available and the AQ rocked.

I agree. Depending on how this plays out, I'm wondering if the BD-powers-that-be will regret not trying to lower BD prices sooner. I'm sure there are plenty of financial models they've used to come up with the pricing for everything, but for almost all people I know that don't currently buy BDs, it's because of the price, and DVD being "good enough" for now.

For example, I don't think any catalog titles should really be priced at higher than $15 (unless its something like Star Wars), particularly if the BD is only marginally better than the DVD, and the DVD is in the bargain bin for $4.99.

The longer people wait to adopt BD, the more likely they may be to just wait for the next generation of movies, whatever that may be.

[york weir]

Originally Posted by toefer

I agree. Depending on how this plays out, I'm wondering if the BD-powers-that-be will regret not trying to lower BD prices sooner. I'm sure there are plenty of financial models they've used to come up with the pricing for everything, but for almost all people I know that don't currently buy BDs, it's because of the price, and DVD being "good enough" for now.

For example, I don't think any catalog titles should really be priced at higher than $15 (unless its something like Star Wars), particularly if the BD is only marginally better than the DVD, and the DVD is in the bargain bin for $4.99.

The longer people wait to adopt BD, the more likely they may be to just wait for the next generation of movies, whatever that may be.

I'm curious to see how it all plays out with blu-ray. I can't think of any media product that has had a quality evolution yet stayed on similar media and succeeded to take over the market. Cassettes to CD's to mp3 and then VHS to DVD. Blu-ray doesn't offer any benefit to a movie watching experience other than picture and sound. The convenience of the media stays the same instead of getting easier. This is my opinion and in no way reflects that I think downloads is the answer either.
I don't think it needs to be in the worst column though.