It’s officially the year 2011 and that means it’s time to look into the 3thought crystal ball and make some predictions about the year to come. So far our attempts at predicting lottery numbers aren’t very good, but our predictions from last year aren’t so bad, and we’ll take a moment to recap our 3 predictions from last year before we dive into this years. Hopefully we’ll do as well as we did last year. So without further adieu the obligatory prediction post

Predictions from 2010: Here’s what we said…

The Apple Tablet: We predicted the Apple tablet would “change the way people use their computers” and “might not be perfect from day 1″ and I’d say we got that dead right. We also said “you’d be craving the next one this year”, and with rumors of the next iPad having a camera (or two), better audio and a thinner form factor, I’d say we’ll take 2 please.

Websites that will take off in 2010: We thought pearltrees.com and omgmetoo.com were pretty sweet sites but they didn’t quite take off the way we thought they would. Oh well… we move on.

3thought in 2010: We correctly predicted a new website, repeat projects, reconnecting with past clients, doubling the people at our Holiday party, a 3thought office and an overall better year than 2009. Put checks next to all of those and let’s move on to 2011.

Predictions for 2011:

1. Continuing the theme from last year we’ll talk Apple first. If you know us, you know we’re big fans. We use their products daily and we enjoy a good Apple rumor. In 2010 we saw a rise in iOS devices and this year we think that trend will continue. Look for these iOS devices further integrate with your television and look for Apple to drop the classic iPod and go all touchscreen devices. On the TV front, we expect to see more than just Airplay… think Apps and games for your TV. In 2011 Apple will become an even bigger competitor with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo in the battle for your living room as consume meida and play games using your iPad, iTouch and iPhones as the controller. And speaking of phones we will finally see the iPhone on Verizon and it will be huge. Don’t expect it to come with LTE yet though. It would be truly epic if it does launch with LTE, be we think that’s a better prediction for 2012.
2. The internet, technology, marketing, entertainment and beyond… It’s true that we’re becoming a “connected” society. Just today, we read a great post about comparing 2000 to the year 2010 and the changes in the way we consume media and stay connected are amazing. It doesn’t take a genius to see how the world is evolving, but here are a few solid predictions of what’s going to be a big deal this year. The cloud. More and more devices will ship with solid state disks and more and more media will be stored on the internet and accessed via high speed internet connections. LTE will help this move forward and should be a really big deal this year, but it wont come without a lot of controversy. Net neutrality is going to be something we hear a lot more about in 2011. Now that large companies and politicians are taking sides, expect to see this on the nightly news and not just in the tech blogs. What else… How about a dramatic rise in the use of location based apps where you get rewards like facebook places and scvngr? Social networking will remain steady, but will lose it’s “cool” factor a bit. Advertising seems to do that… Look for your advertising to get smarter this year too. Advertisers have more info about you than ever, so expect more targeted ads on your TV and mobile devices.
3. And lastly a few predictions about our company for the year 2011. Considering the economy, 2010 was a really good year for us and we look to follow it up with an even better year this year. Look for 3thought to launch a redesigned website some time before end of year. We’ll eventually move into a new larger office somewhere on the South Shore, and we’ll hire our first full-time employee (other and ourselves). He or she will probably a full-time web developer. And our last prediction for 3thought is that we’ll diversify and increase our client base even further this year. It’s been our belief from day one that great work will always lead to more great work and more great clients.

With that said, we raise our glasses and toast to 2011. May it be a great year for all!

This week marks a very important milestone in 3thought history. This week, the week of May 31, 2010, our very first summer intern came on board. His name is Lucas Wojciechowski (don’t worry about pronouncing it, “Lucas” works just fine) and he is a very talented, young web developer. So we wondered, what does go on in the mind of a budding computer genious? Well, we asked, and this is what we got…

1. HTML5 vs Flash

   Apple’s refusal to include Adobe’s Flash plug-in on the iPad and iPhone has caused quite a ruckus amongst large technology companies. Less publicized, but even more portentous, Google has begun removing Flash from all of its applications (including Youtube). Flash, a plug-in made by Adobe, runs on top of your web browser to provide all kinds of interactive goodies which aren’t possible in the browser itself. At least, thats how it used to be. Nowadays, modern browsers (no, that does NOT include Internet Explorer) have most of those “goodies” built in making Flash largely unnecessary. This is an issue that is going to effect everyone who uses the internet over the next few years. If you’re not yet terrified by the idea of one company having absolute control over a market like this, start reading up on the atrocities Facebook is committing or Apple’s iron grip on the App Store. You can do your part to vote for openness by updating your browser to a new version of Firefox, Safari, Chrome, or Opera.

2. Folders are Passé

   It has been a standard since the inception of computers but the latest devices and software (iPhone/iPad, Google Docs, Chrome OS) are doing away with the concept of “folders” and “files.” As a stickler for organization, I couldn’t be happier. Imagine how liberating it would be to sift through all your information by dates, tags, and keywords. If you want a taste of the future right now, check out Quicksilver (OSX) or Launchy (Windows).

3. Science is Awesome

   I swear, I’m not crazy. I implore you to check out Radio Lab, a monthly(ish) podcast put out by NPR. Not only does the show tackle fundamental questions of human nature via fascinating stories and interviews but its production values are unmatched. The hosts, Jad and Robert, use the farthest reaches of science and philosophy to explore such questions as:

   • What are the limits of the human mind?
   • Can a computer make a discovery without human guidance?
   • Is language a uniquely human ability? Can we create a language shared between species?
   • Are we born with an understanding of numbers or do we have to learn?

What do you think of Lucas’ thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

1. “Zeitgeist” – say it. It’s fun, we promise. Zeitgeist is a good vocabulary word to know and minimum 19 points in Scrabble. Wikipedia tells us that the word is of German origin and is a combination of “Zeit” meaning time and “Geist” meaning spirit. It embodies the spirit of the day, that is the collective mood and mindset of group or nation. It is the “it” of our culture – what is making us tick culturally, intellectually, spiritually, in a big picture sense. In marketing, capturing the zeitgeist is sort of the holy grail. It is what we should all be striving to understand.
2. Google tries to quantify zeitgeist for us. Each year, they publishes it’s official Zeitgeist that tries to tap into the global consciousness based on what everyone was searching for over the previous year. In 2009, we were into Facebook and Twitter, and a little movie about vampires and werewolves. But mostly it seems we were thinking about Michael Jackson. If the king of pop doesn’t represent your person zeitgeist for 2009, what did? Check out the complete 2009 Google Zeitgeist report.
3. So, if the greatest marketing successes come from brands that are able to represent the zeitgeist of their times, who/what did it best? Maybe Ford when it introduced the Model-T. Or Farrah when she had her hair feathered and posed for poster in a red bathing suit. Perhaps Apple’s iPad will come to represent a whole new level of cultural connection. What do you think? Who has tapped the zeitgeist at just the right time and rode it to success?

1. This video came our way care of @LuckyKDesign. It shows an illustrated version of the book Alice in Wonderland reinterpreted for the iPad. Not only is it entertaining, it’s artistically gorgeous. If all children’s books were this engaging, maybe kids would read more. But seriously, this is just another example of our different media are becoming one giant omnimedia where we are no longer observers, but participants. We are excited about the evolution. Holodecks anyone?
2. This week Adobe took some time out of battling with Apple to release CS5. For our non-designer readers, CS5 is the latest edition of Adobe’s Creative Suite Software which includes Illustrator, InDesign and the where-would-we-be-without-it Photoshop. Basically the tools we use every single day to make you look good. Like all new must have toys tools, CS5 comes with a bunch of fun bells and whistles and had twitter all a-buzz. In our opinion, the star of the day seems to have been Puppet Warp which will allow a user to repose objects within an image by setting bend points. Kind of hard to explain, but trust us, it’s really cool. Now we just need to save save save so we can get a couple upgrade copies.
   Check out some of the cooler features on cs5.org:
   Top 5 Features of Popular Adobe CS5 Products
3. Fast Company recently published an infographic that gives a snap shot of today’s entrepreneur. Looking at the numbers, we are just shy of completely average entrepreneurs. (at least on paper )
   • 24% are age 26-30 (and 26% are 31-35)
   • 44% started their business because they saw an opportunity to make something great.
   • 46% are first time business owners
   • 54% are on Macs
   • 52% use iPhones

   The one stat that was a bit of a shock was that 70% are male. Shea wants to know, Ladies, what’s up with that!?
   Check out the original post on Fast Company.