Most publications start making predictions around this time of year, but I hate being wrong. It’s not so much that I don’t have ideas of where things are going - it’s more the fact making future predictions is a bit trite. Rarely are there any groundbreaking revelations and the novelty wears off quite quickly, usually by the third bullet point. In light of keeping it lite, there are three innovations which I feel are noteworthy for 2007 - the iPhone, the Wii, and Twitter.

Granted the Wii came out in November of 2006 and Twitter in March of 2006 - they really didn’t “blow up” until 2007. The Wii continues to have shortages and Twitter ballooned after SXSW 2007, where I first signed on. I had a conversation with Snook once and he talked about (and continues to blog about) staying away from hopping on any bandwagon as well as staying fair and balanced. This post will not be that way - I will gush and adore praise for my three favorite things of 2007.

The Nintendo Wii

When news of the Nintendo’s new console first started coming out, I must admit, I was a skeptic. Nintendo had become an afterthought in my mind when it comes to the latest and greatest consoles. Then I saw the Zelda: Twilight Princess video on YouTube. The whole shooting arrows, slashing with a sword, and fishing bits all in 360 degree motion sensing bliss is really what got me all hyped. The new controllers - which seemed like a novelty - actually could be contribute to adding another layer of substance to games.

I stopped buying the newest console after the first XBox - somewhere between starting a career and having a serious relationship, my gaming time fell off the map. I figured it would be a long time before I ever bought another console - but then my fiancee played Wii bowling at a friends house, and won. It went from, “videogames are boring 2000,” to “the Wii is sooo much fun, let’s get one!” Done.

Since then we’ve had a great time with family and friends bowling, playing tennis, and golfing - all of which come with the box. In fact, it wasn’t till six months after the Wii that we got any other games. One of which, Mario Party 8, is nothing to write to the motherland about. In the last five days I have gotten Madden ‘08 and Woods ‘08 as well as Zelda, which I had rented before. All in all the Wii does something no other console has done - bring games to the non-gamers. It’s why there are still Wii shortages and why when we pull it out at parties, non-gamers say, “I want that.”

Twitter

Twitter first came across my radar a few months before SXSW ‘07, where it really gained traction. And honestly, I had the same thought as most people, “Why would I care and why would I use it?” For some reason the buzz about it (when I was at SXSW) outweighed my skepticism and my reluctance to sign up for another web service. twitter.com/georgehuff was born.

Six-Hundred and Fourteen twitters later I can finally say I have my head wrapped around the service and why it is not only greatly useful but also why it is highly innovative. Twitter lives in the world of one-to-many communication. While being slightly intrusive, depending on how many subscribers one has, it’s completely opt-in/opt-out. Are you subscribing to an acquaintence that seems to do nothing at all? Unsubscribe. I must say I partake in much less small talk when those who I am having a conversation with are also on Twitter. After all I already know What Are You Doing?

The iPhone

As I write this post - I am driving around Portland trying to figure out which of the Christmas items I need to exchange are available at which store. I opened up Google Maps, typed in Joe’s, and proceeded to call the closest Joe’s available till I found the Roxy Snowboard jacket (for my fiancee) in a size small. I then proceeded to call different Les Schwabs in the Portland-Vancouver area to find which could put on my snow tires the fastest. While it’s not difficult to imagine doing something like this in front of a computer - it is difficult to imagine doing it while sitting behind a steering wheel cursing at all the bad drivers.

Google Maps is one of the many things on the iPhone that is done really well - and really, the device is simply a joy to use. It’s not perfect, it can’t do everything, but what it does do, it does better than any other phone available. With the opening up of the device for native apps - I expect to be writing about it again at the end of 2008.

Conclusion

And now you have my biased, one-sided, fanboyistic, love and adoration for three things in 2007 which I have truly enjoyed. It’s not often we get spoiled as consumers as we have this year. The Wii will change the way we think about games, Twitter will change the way we communicate, and the iPhone has provided us with the closest thing to the all-in-one holy grail of consumer electronic devices.

Most people will agree with the Wii and Twitter topping my list - the iPhone however, may draw ire from the iPhone haters. There are two huge reasons why it is probably the number one device of the year. The first being the fact it corralled a major telco to change their network and their policies to fit a phone - this is a step in the right direction and will hopefully lead to more of this sort of thing. Could you imagine if Comcast told you what kind of computer you could use? It would be ridiculous. The second reason why I picked it is the way it raised the bar for all phones being released. Nobody is putting a phone on the market right now without the iPhone in the back of their minds - this will lead to better design and usability amongst all phones, which is no doubt a good thing.

I had a few other items which have really been hot this year - but perhaps I am missing something?

Happy New Years.

Notable Mentions

• XBox 360
• 2008 Scion XB
• MacBook Pro
• Aluminum iMacs
• Facebook
• Virb

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