Robert Scoble looks back at 2010's biggest tech moments: the iPad's impact on how families consume media, the rise of Flipboard and Quora, Groupon's massive valuation, and the growing platform battle between iOS and Android.
Robert, it's December 2010. What are the high points of the year for you in terms of new companies, new products, new developments?
I asked that a couple nights ago over on Quora, and I said some of the companies I liked were like Flipboard, Saludo, which won the TechCrunch Disrupt, Siri, which got sold to Apple. And it's going to be, I think, the. The underpinnings of the next iPhone, where you're going to talk to the phone and it's going to talk to web services and bring information back to you. Uber, the cab company, Quora itself, which lets you ask questions and talk to people who are your friends and see answers. Those are all sorts of startups. I mean, the iPad has completely changed my life.
How has the iPad changed your life?
It's a device that I hold it up.
I'm sure there must be somebody in the audience who's never seen one. I doubt it.
It's a device that I like to sit with on the couch at night when I'm playing with the kids. And the kids all have them now, right? So we can play Scrabble, we can play Angry Birds together, we can watch movies and they can watch their kid movie and I can watch my adult movie. And, you know, that's a change in the human behavior. The aesthetic of it is really interesting. I'm using an app called Auditorium. Auditorium lets you fly through musicians and discover new kinds of music. And the aesthetic of touching and swiping is something that adds some intimacy to the user interface. And both this and Flipboard are two examples of apps that wouldn't really give me the same emotional experience on a PC or on a desktop computer.
What about on the telephone side? What are the high points of 2010?
IPhone4 came out, which is still being explored. I just got a new app called. Well, there's a new app called Gyro Mania. Gyro. I'm sorry, Gyrorama. Which lets you see panoramic photos by using the gyroscope inside the camera. And there's another app coming out on Wednesday that lets you take gyroscope pictures. Panoramic photos by using the gyroscope in here. It's interesting when I speak to audiences and I ask them how many apps people have on their phones. All. Only 4 or 5% have more than 100 apps.
Are you employed by Apple?
No, but it should be that way.
What about non Apple hardware? Anything exciting?
Yeah, the Android is taking off. You see the numbers of users.
Why don't you have one.
I still like the iPhone OS better. It's smoother. To me, the apps are better. There's more innovation happening in apps on iPhone. Because I interviewed the CIO of Starbucks and he said, well, most of my customers who come into Starbucks are using an iOS device. Or the lady who runs Sephora.com said 80% of the people who use a mobile phone in her stores are using iOS devices. And that gets around. And app developers are building apps for iPhone first and then everything else second. And I like the OS better. I have three Android devices. I still don't. I've never taken to them. I just don't like the OS.
What are the most interesting business stories of 2010? The fact that Twitter hasn't sold Groupon's probable sale to Groupon.
Groupon, I mean, for $5 billion or $6 billion, is probably one of the bigger ones.
Deal or non deal.
I think it makes sense.
What has most surprised you in 2010 in terms of how companies have failed or succeeded? Are you amazed still with Facebook?
Facebook is the dominant Silicon Valley company right now. You sit there in the hallway and you just sense that there's something happening. It feels a lot like Google did five, six, seven, eight years.
Do you think we'll remember 2010 as the year where the balance tilted and Facebook replaced Google as the dominant Silicon Valley company?
It sure looks that way. I don't see how Google can come back. The question for 2011 is, can Google even get something going with social, or do they just give up to the Facebook's identity system? I'm now signing into TechCrunch by clicking my Facebook button. And now TechCrunch knows everything about me because of the Facebook connect.
Well, one thing we Forgot to discuss. TechCrunch's sale to AOL. Wasn't that the high point of 2010?
Well, it might have been for Mike Arrington. For the rest of us, we're still trying to figure out what it means.
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