6 Tech Predictions for the Trump Years
It's a new world: Donald Trump's world. As 2017 hits, we're going to see the US government's attitude towards a range of technologies change, whether it be about a lighter touch on regulation or a harsher look at companies that import heavily from China.
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I hate making stock predictions. I'm going to try to stick to what I think you should expect and do, as US tech consumers, to prepare for 2017. For each prediction, I'm also trying to provide an action you should take to put yourself in the best position for the future.
Sprint and T-Mobile Will Merge
Sprint's stock jumped after the election on the assumption that Sprint and T-Mobile, which want to merge, will do so. The merger has been blocked so far
While Trump has come out against the Time Warner/AT&T merger
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Advertisement Tim Cook on Trump Win: 'Move Forward Together' DroneDeploy Is Building an App Store and OS for Drones Business Choice Awards 2016: CRM The outcome will be the end of the current wireless price wars. As we've seen in Canada, countries with three major players, and no requirement to share networks with third parties, tend not to have aggressive pricing. We should expect to see wireless costs in the US normalize at the AT&T/Verizon levels, bringing home more profits to investors in the combined Sprint/T-Mobile. What you should do: Lock in a really good rate plan soon, because prices may go up. Study low-cost virtual carriers Verizon 5G Will Be the Next Big Broadband Competitor What you should do: Look for 5G home broadband promotions as soon as the service launches in your area. Switch back and forth between 5G and cable annually to keep the best promotional rate. Apple's Prices Go Up; Huawei and LeEco Dead in the Water What you should do: If you see an Apple product on sale, grab it. They're not going to get cheaper. Solar, Hyperloop and Tesla On the Way Out What you should do: Look for cars with I/O ports and upgradeability for technologies like CarPlay, Android Auto, and future cloud intelligence to make your traditional gas car smarter and smarter. AI is going to start advancing faster than the traditional car replacement cycle. Net Neutrality Up in the Air What you should do: Right now, nothing. This situation is too unformed for coherent action. Twitter and Facebook Vindicated, Pyrrhically What you should do: If you aren't into conflict, consider moving to more closed or targeted social networks. Snapchat and Instagram, for instance, don't have the level of negativity commonly found on Twitter and Facebook (and Instagram has keyword blocking This article originally appearedPCMag.com
This prediction wraps together a few elements. Republicans have been hostile to municipal broadband, and a key Trump adviser has indicated
Trump has expressed great displeasure
"Green" technologies are an absolute no to Trump's advisers, and as he promised to bring back jobs
Trump has come out against net neutrality
Twitter is struggling financially, but it's how the President-Elect got his message out. I can see the government adopting Twitter as a semi-official way to communicate with people. That's going to give the service a new lease on life. Meanwhile, this was the Facebook election, with memes and conspiracy theories energizing voters. But the intense negativity and harassment on these services could be emotionally toxic to anyone who doesn't like constant conflict. In the long term, this could lead to a decline of both networks for more intimate, controlled milieus.