This week, we review 2016 and try to hash out the best things and the worst thing. In years, past, there were many categories and a very long discussion. We decided to distill this down to five good things and one bad thing. Without further ado, this list is as follows:
Worst Thing of the Year:
The Insecurity of Email
(Yahoo, Democratic Party Email Hacking, the Clinton Campaign, The Clinton Private Server)
The defining negative tech stories of the year all seemed to swirl around the fact that email can be an extremely insecure medium. In fact, one can even say that it influenced the course of American democracy. So, bad job email!
Dishonorable Mention:
Everything Apple did in 2016
(Headphone Jack, Ear Pods, the new Macbook Pro, the not new Mac Pro)
Best Thing of 2016:
The Proliferation of Amazon Alexa and Other Voice Assistants
Between the two of us on the show, we bought/acquired six Echoes, and last year, we were skeptical. Trey now has one in about every room of his house and his office at work. They fulfill the promise of the smart home hub that is easier than the older ways of doing things. The function simply enough to be usable, and Amazon remains a genius at partnering with others to expand the utility of their devices and services.
Honorable Mention:
Games with 10-year Development Cycling Turning Out Good to Great
(DOOM, Final Fantasy 15, and The Last Guardian)
Windows on ARM
The Microsoft Surface Studio
The Announcement of the Nintendo Switch