2008 predictions and a recap of 2007: Part 2

Last year I wrote an article on predictions for 2007. These are my predictions for 2008. This is part two of a two part series. In part one, I did a recap of my 2007 predictions.

Let’s get right to the meat of it.

1) Mixx blasts off. Mixx has been gaining a lot of popularity. In 2008, I believe Mixx will take off like a bat out of hell… it may not catch Digg, but I think it will become the new norm for the early adopter crowd… the same one that made Digg huge.

2) Flex/AIR take off in a huge way, becoming the defacto standard for rich internet applications. Ooh, this is a bold one, I know. There will be a few factors contributing to this. First, development is stupid simple in Flex< nowadays. Second, it's FUN. It brings back the fun days of developing for me... something which has gotten stale as of late. Third, it's a great technology. If Adobe releases even more updates, it’s going to get even more catchy. I would imagine there are a lot of big Flex projects in development at this very moment.

3) Somebody withdraws from the RIAA. Times are-a changin’, and the RIAA is about to feel the pain this year. I’m betting it’ll be Warner. Warner Music Group is close to broke, and they can’t afford to not get with the program. They’ll be offering DRM free downloads left and right by the end of the year.

4) Mint enters the deadpool. Got a cocky CEO? Got Arrington pumping you up for no reason at TC40? Got a weak idea for making money, and an application that has yet to work for most people? Great, then you got Mint! Grade A deadpool material. The idea is nice, but the reality of it is that it’s a security nightmare, a public relations nightmare (immature CEO much?), and has a lot of big bills to pay back. I’m betting Mint will be gobbled up by a big money financial institution for the contact list alone, redesigned and integrated as a proprietary tool, and the founders will cash out to the tune of about 8 to 10 million.

5) Napster goes bankrupt. I like the new Napster. it could do a little bit better job with the interface and organizing the tunes, but overall it’s a decent program at a decent price. I used Rhapsody before, but their latest forced upgrade was unbearable, so I switched. I can’t say I’m disappointed, but I’m not dazzled. Given the direction Napster has been going, I’m betting 2008 is the year it’s sold off for assets and someone else gives this tired out domain a shot.

Bonus) Skinnyr triples it’s users. I have it on good authority (I own it) that Skinnyr is coming out with a big update this year that will put it in a whole new league for people watching their weight. I’m betting by years end, there will be 18,000 users on Skinnyr… and I’m betting Michael Arrington still won’t remove it from the deadpool. Was this a cheap plug? Was it a shot at Arrington? Was it true? Find out in 2009!

That’s about it. 5 predictions last year, 5 this year. And now I’m going to hit 5 bloggers to get their 5 predictions.

1. Allen Stern of CenterNetworks, of course
2. Smart guy Zoli Erdos
3. Brilliant freelancer Paul Enderson
4. Web enthusiast Rod Edwards
5. Web guy in the know, Sid Yadav

Let’s hear it, guys… what are your top 5 predictions for 2008 in the web world?