IEEE SPECTRUM RELEASES LIST OF TOP 11 TECHNOLOGIES OF THE DECADE

Life Has Changed Remarkably in Just 10 Years!

 By John R. Harris

At the beginning of a year, or in this case the beginning of a decade, many people like to issue their “top ten” lists.  For its 1-11-11 issue of IEEE Spectrum magazine, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) decided to issue a “top eleven” list featuring its candidates for the dominant technologies of the decade.

It is remarkable how much things have changed in just ten years.  You couldn’t put your entire music collection on a portable phone.  Airplanes with bombs and missiles invariably had a pilot.  Your corner drugstore stocked photographic film.  You couldn’t instantaneously keep track of your friends and acquaintances and what they were doing.   Televisions were big and bulky and sat on the floor.  

As lawyers who represent technology companies, we in the Techlaw Group at MMM get excited about new developments.  We study and work hard to stay abreast of technologies so we can do a better job representing our clients.   MMM is proud to represent clients in almost all of these areas of technology!  (Any companies out there making devices for planetary rovers?  We’d like to talk to you.)

Here is a summary table showing Spectrum’s “Top 11” list and it’s candidates for “companies to watch”

But wait, there’s more!  No list like this would be complete without a list of “honorable mentions” – those other technologies that came close to making the list but for some reason (sometimes obvious) did not make the cut.  Here is that list:

The full list and detailed information about each of these technologies, a short history, and projections for the future can be obtained from the IEEE here.