I’ve got a few half-written posts, but I haven’t been inspired to finish them yet. Also been tired, and the learning curve at Amazon is as steep as you might expect. But I am still alive!
One note… some self-analysis, if you will. I’ve noticed my addiction to FaceBook is changing. I’ve started to pay less attention to the home page / status updates / news feeds, and now head straight to apps I like (which invariably is Scrabulous and a possibly passing interest in Knighthood). I’m also noticing that apps are getting more annoying… seems every app wants me to continue to invite friends. Bah. So I’m wondering what the longevity of FaceBook is… will it continue it’s growth, or will it too fade in popularity like the other social networking sites.

Hey everyone,

Been a restful and quiet holiday season here at the ranch, so haven’t been posting. I know I know. At any rate, I thought I’d state some bold, crazy, and just downright mind-bottling predictions.

Politics

• Huckabee beats out McCain for the Republican nomination.
• Clinton defeats Obama and Edwards.
• Clinton then defeats Huckabee in the General Election, making Dennis Miller’s predictions of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton a reality. In an ironic twist, people desire a “Bridge to the Past” — in particular, the world prior to the Bush Administration. Booming economy, no war, good times.

Search

• Google picks up another 5% share. Microsoft starts to spend serious money, still doesn’t buy Yahoo.
• Baidu solidifies in China in a big way.
• Emerging Markets become competitive (South America, India, Russia, etc.) towards the end of the year.
• IAC (Ask.com) merges with Yahoo.
• Personalization (personalized search and personalized ads, in particular) become differentiating features.
• FaceBook Web Search appears (powered by Microsoft). Google pushes their own FB search app heavily.

Football

• New England gets taken down.

Basketball

• Clay Bennett keeps trying to move the Sonics, but can’t get out of the lease until 2010. Both sides dig in. Resolution in 2009.

Personal Hopes

• Randy Pauch sees 2009.

Oh yeah - not making any retail / Amazon predictions this year, mostly as I’m still busy learning about the space.

Happy New Year everyone!