The best and worst tech products of 2008
Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:42PM EST
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Lists like this are awfully subjective, but always fun to work on. As Christmas approaches, it's time to reminisce about the products that really floated my boat in 2008... and a few of the ones that made me run away screaming.
Without further ado, here are my -- completely personal -- picks for some of the best products to come from the world of technology from 2008.
The Best
Gateway MC7803u laptop - It has modest specs and average-to-good performance, but $1,000 flat gets you a gorgeous, 16-inch screen and a distinctive, classy chassis, complete with leather trim. It's altogether an excellent value and has all the features that virtually every user needs in a portable.
Rock Band 2 - Arguably the best game of the year -- I find it humbling that I listen to more music while playing Rock Band than I do on my iPod. The ongoing addition of new -- and good -- music to the game makes it an ongoing favorite at Null HQ.
Lenovo IdeaPad S10 - If you must buy a netbook, try Lenovo's outstanding mini, which is exceptionally powerful for its feature set and size and priced to move.
Intel Core i7 CPU - This new CPU is the fastest and most capable microchip on the block, hands down, and it won't melt your computer along the way. Can't wait for the mobile version to arrive in 2009.
Hulu - This web TV service really came into its own in 2008 after a slow and rocky start. YouTube gets all the press (and about 100 times the traffic), but Hulu has the full-length, high-quality commercial shows and snippets that people actually want to watch. And the player is snappier in response than anything else on the market.
Fabrik [re]drive - Environmentalism in the tech world doesn't have to mean just a good take-back program. The [re]drive is made of bamboo and recyclable aluminum, making it not just more eco-conscious than any other hard drive on the market, but better looking too.
Sony Xperia X1 - If it weren't for the $800 price tag, you'd see X1 handsets in the hands of all the digerati instead of the iPhone. (Yeah, I like the iPhone 3G, too, but the atrocious battery life is cause enough to keep it off this year's "best" list.)
Herman-Miller Embody - Can a man fall in love with a chair? Yes, yes he can.
The Worst
Blu-ray - I'm happy to see that Blu-ray players have come down in price... but the media has not, and there's no way I'm paying $25 to watch Step Brothers. Plus the technology is still, bafflingly, dog-slow to respond. There's a very loud and vocal minority that insists that Blu-ray will be a huge success. The market would seem to indicate otherwise. (And no, I am not a disgruntled HD DVD player owner; never owned one.)
Mint.com - Lots of writers hail Mint.com's finance tracking system as the best thing since Coca-Cola Classic, but after weeks with the service I've never gotten it to work right. It still can't grab all my account information from one of the biggest banks in the world... and every month I am (wrongly) chastised for spending over $5,000 on groceries, the category into which all my spending is invariably dumped.
DRM in All Its Forms - Why does DRM still exist? It's so aggravating and generates so many lawsuits that promising products like RealDVD get sued off the planet within days of launching. Three months after launch, RealDVD is still "temporarily" off the market as the company deals with a Hollywood lawsuit.
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2 Posted by rjketner on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:42PM EDT Report Abuse
You left out the Iphone as the absolute worst technology.Edge technology maxes at 200KB/sec and you can't send MMS messages. If your battery goes bad you send in the whole unit for repair. If you have to rent a replacement while waiting for the repair, it ends up costing over $115. No wonder Verizon turned it down before it was offererd to AT&T.
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3 Posted by macguru75 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:02PM EDT Report Abuse
Regarding rjketner's comments on the iPhone. The iPhone with Edge came out in 2007, so technically it falls onto last years list. However you cannot say it had the absolute worst technology. While Edge may be really slow, all of the other iPhone technology was groundbreaking and ahead of anything else on the market at the time. That's why there are countless iPhone imitators out now. As and far as "If you have to rent a replacement while waiting for the repair, it ends up costing over $115" --- it's only going to cost you that if you end up damaging your loaner. With the iPhone now the #1 selling handset on the market (overtaking the Razr) Verizon should be kicking themselves.
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4 Posted by rcappo on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:31PM EDT Report Abuse
iPhone works with iTunes and has the App Store. It does what I need it to do. A few things might need to be improved, but it works pretty good so far. I agree with the list as it is. Mint needs to either work with more banks or I need to be able to import my data somehow. It could be the greatest thing and help me out a lot, but right now it doesn't work with my primary bank. I would pay them money to have them add my bank. Blu-ray has problems that need addressing. It may be the only option at the stores, but there are going to be competition pretty soon with downloadable HD movies. I've watched a few before and like them a lot.
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5 Posted by dakotazgirl101 on Tue Dec 16, 2008 12:16PM EST Report Abuse
i am surpirised that the gateway has had such a good comeback! they didn't do much good for me!
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6 Posted by sharonj430 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:17PM EDT Report Abuse
Bought a Gateway computer once -- after six months, components failed one after the next. I'd never buy another. Don't care how cheap/fast their new laptop is.
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7 Posted by ruxrux on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:57PM EDT Report Abuse
If you're bothered with Mint, go with something way better - Quicken Online.
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8 Posted by jnbseiden on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:37PM EDT Report Abuse
Blu-Ray is not one of the worst products, but it will be one of the worst investments. The technology to have all video transmitted via the internet is so close that this product will be obsolete within 2 years. If investing $1,000 in the player and discs over the 12-18 month lifespan made sense, then it was a good purchase. Personally, I will wait and have all my HD media on my hard drive, playable without a special player
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9 Posted by legolas8211 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:48PM EDT Report Abuse
So...you say Blu-ray is one of the worst tech products because of $25 dollar discs but you say a $800 cell phone is one of the best.....riiiiiiiight. Good Luck with that.
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10 Posted by kchwe on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:48PM EDT Report Abuse
The best netbook for my money is the Samsung NC10. It has a keyboard free of bizarre placement for certain keys, and the included long-life battery gives it a $50-$100 price advantage over other netbooks.
1 Posted by delco_man on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:40PM EDT Report Abuse
Sorry to hear that you're having trouble with Mint - have you tried Thrive, Geezeo, or Wesabe, some of the other competitors in the space? No PF company has managed to build the "killer app" in the space yet, although Thrive may be heading that way, depending on what they do in the next year. I personally use Thrive for my day-to-day and long-term planning, and Wesabe for their interesting community content. Then again, you may not want to listen to me: I'm a constant Hulu user but I'm not sure the i7 is much more than a tock-processor with no revolutionary changes.