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When the next big thing isn't

On a very regular basis, "the next big thing" arrives in the world of technology and cyberspace.

Once TNBT appears, everybody wants to get onboard and become part of the "in crowd" who uses this technology or service.

We've had filesharing, Facebook, YouTube, netbooks, tablets, smartphones -- the list is almost endless and continues to grow with monotonous regularity.

But what happens when TNBT turns out to be a fizzer?

One example of this might just be "The Cloud".

We've been told that cloud-based computing is the future and one could be forgiven for believing that this is indeed the case.

Google has rolled out a wave of cloud-based services, Amazon is pushing the cloud, Microsoft is hell-bent on pushing everyone into the fluffies -- while here in NZ one of our most rapidly growing tech-businesses Xero relies heavily on this technology for its success.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well perhaps you should ask Ubuntu, the crowd that makes the most popular version of desktop Linux in use today.

Ubuntu's plan was to build cloud services into their OS offering so that it became virtually transparent to users. Surely such a turnkey service would be successful because it was a "no brainer" for users.

Well this week, Ubuntu announced that it was shutting down its cloud-based service.

Apparently they just weren't able to make money from it so have opted to focus on things that are "core" to their business instead.

Hmmm... maybe not all clouds have a lining of silver perhaps?

And then there's the wearable technology that some big names (including Google with its "Glass" product) have been pushing.

Apparently, once the novelty wears off, a good percentage of the folk who splashed out good money to buy such things as fitness tracking wristbands, smartwatches, and other "wearware" have opted to simply throw them in a drawer.

Another NBT that's going nowhere?

Even that TNBT to beat all TNBTs -- Facebook, is in decline. Young folk are reportedly giving the social networking site a very wide berth in favour of other options.

So... I wonder what the *real* "next big thing" will be?

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