How the Recession Will Affect Your Tech

Even though all the bigwigs in the financial world finally had to admit what we knew months ago, we're in a horrible recession, people are still reluctant to speculate on the outcome of this "little downturn." That's why it was so refreshing to find predictions of the 10 ways the recession will affect our tech-centered world. It's not because I want doom and gloom; it's because I want to know what to expect.



So here they are, PCWorld's estimation of the 10 Things You Won't See After the Recession:

1. Free Tech Support - Companies won't be willing to pay for real people to field your phone calls when they can just post help files and FAQs on their site.

2. Paying for Wi-Fi - Nobody will pay for Wi-Fi because people will be looking to save money by finding free hotspots. This will drive the market toward public Wi-Fi access.

3. Landline Phones - This should be obvious; the death of landline phones has been predicted for years.

4. Movie Rental Stores - Another one that's been predicted for a while. Downloadable content will become so ubiquitous that traipsing to the rental store will seem so old fashioned.

5. Web 2.0 Companies without a Business Plan - Frankly it's incredible that they've lasted this long without a clear way to make revenue, but with the current economic conditions investors will be a lot more interested in companies that can make money instead of headlines. When these companies have burned through all their capital and still don't have a solid way to make money, they'll disappear. You might want to say goodbye to some of your favorite free online services and get ready to see a lot more subscriptions.

6. Most Companies in Silicon Valley - Failures and mergers will cull the Silicon Valley tech industry to 25% (PCWorld's prediction) of its current number of companies.

7. Palm Inc. - The company seems a little "clueless" according to PCWorld, and isn't likely to be able to compete in the smartphone market already dominated by iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices.

8. Yahoo - A bold prediction, but possibly a correct one considering all the bumbling and flailing it has done lately.

9. Half of All Retail Stores - Similar to the consolidation of Silicon Valley companies, the economy won't be able to support so many retail stores. It won't help that more and more people will turn to the internet for shopping instead of brick-and-mortar stores.

10. Satellite Radio - This is the one prediction that might be more obvious than the death of landlines. There just aren't enough subscribers and car sales are dropping, meaning fewer people are getting new cars with satellite radio.

The outlook isn't totally bleak for the tech industry. In some cases, the consolidation of companies and technologies might be a benefit for consumers. And nobody is really going to miss satellite radio. So for the near future, your prospects look ... well, moderately good.

For other upbeat tech news, check out these other blog posts:

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