PODCASTING Yes, it’s nice to get MP3s downloaded to your iPod. But where are the revenues? Podcasting will continue, but as a business, it’s the latest iteration of CB radio.
OUTSOURCING It works for rote or clerical tasks, but creative and management functions are still most effective close to home. If your job hasn’t been outsourced by now, it’s unlikely to happen in the years ahead.
CHINA RULES THE WORLD Don’t forget your recent history: Japan didn’t surpass the U.S. economy in the 1980s, and it’s unlikely that China will in the next half-century.
HYDROGEN-POWERED VEHICLES The technical challenges are huge, and they will probably take 10 to 15 years to overcome. Until then, you can safely ignore hydrogen hype
To follow:
AJAX is a Software tools that make browser-based applications behave more like software running on a PC. The Most Web apps require that a new webpage be sent to a user to accomplish each individual step in a task, which explains why they're often sluggish. But Ajax (the name stands for asynchronous JavaScript and XML) lets new data trickle in, updating the content of the page on the fly.
BIOGENERICS is a Generic forms of the patented drug proteins sold by big biotech firms. Companies like Amgen (AMGN) and Genentech (DNA) rely heavily on expensive but effective protein-based therapies for diseases ranging from chronic renal failure to diabetes. These patented therapies, also known as biodrugs, accounted for $18 billion in sales last year. Now many of the best-selling biodrugs are going off patent -- which means that if others can copy them, they can sell them.
MICRO FUEL CELLS are Batteries for portable electronic devices that use a refillable external fuel supply, from hydrogen to natural gas, methanol, ethanol, and sodium borohydride. The more power-hungry digital devices have become, the less plain-old lithium-ion batteries have been able to keep up. Fuel cells are the leading candidate to replace them.
