2024 Hindsight

It's kind of fun to look back at the year and see how close or far off any predictions were. Foresight is cloudy and hindsight is clear. My aim at the outset of 2024 was No New Tech. Surprise — there was new tech. And as for the upcoming year, there will likely be new tech again — no surprise.

First, my predictions from last year were, of course, hit and miss:

“What do I predict for 2024 tech stuff? I can’t see my laptop or tablet changing next year. They’re both still too new and excellent. But the 15" MacBook Air is attractive. My Kindle Paperwhite upgrade from 2022 will also remain the same, I’d say. The Kindle Scribe might tempt me though.”

Neither my laptop nor my tablet changed. But my MacBook is starting to give way. It works perfectly, but I thought about switching to a Chromebook (because Google…), yet now I plan on switching to a Windows laptop (because gaming…). Then again, I’m back and forth on this and think I’ll use all of it.

My phone totally changed though. First from an iPhone 12 mini to a 12 Pro. That was incremental. Then it changed from iPhone 12 Pro to the Moto Razr 2024, a flip and an Android phone. The was monumental.

As for Kindle, my previous-gen Paperwhite is the same. But in October I did plan to buy the new Colorsoft until it became a fiasco about a yellowing display and is/was unavailable for a while.

“There are two potential new gadgets for next year that would definitely tug me: a Switch 2 (because more and better Nintendo games) and an iPhone SE 4 (because of USB-C). I want 2024 to be the year I can finally say I’m all USB-C all the way.”

The Switch 2 and iPhone SE 4 might both release in Spring 2025. But now that I’m on Android, the SE 4 won't sway me. The Switch 2 might tug me more, depending on its launch titles. But I may stick to the original Switch for a while and also lean more into PC gaming.

Finally, one big prediction and goal came to pass: I did USB-C all the things!

“I might leave my WordPress host for Neocities, blogging there exclusively. As for apps, I hope to stick with Apple the whole year. It just works. Leave well-enough alone, yeah? I can at least purge old notes and bookmarks while reorganizing things.”

I did leave WordPress and also left Neocities behind. Instead, I blog at newcomer Pika. And I definitely foresee myself sticking with it through 2025.

What about sticking with Apple? No, unlike before when I was all-in. I became unstuck from Apple and migrated to Google, which lets me jump between our Chromebooks, Windows PC, and my Mac. This will unlikely change. Android and Windows and ChromeOS are plenty capable and more affordable, so I plan to stay in the open tech landscape outside Apple’s expensive walled-garden.

In fact, it looks like in 2025, my main computer will no longer be a Mac. Unlike my No New Tech mantra in 2024, the new year should bring new tech.