[Technology] Best of 2010

In this on-going series of holiday schedule friendly series of entries (briefly) talking about the best stuff of 2010. Wednesdays tend to be about computers, technology and all things internet related. So let's think about the year.

Image via WikipediaOf course on a personal note, saddest web series closing down was Google Wave. I'm a huge fan of the concept and my partner and I are still regular users of the site. And we'll probably stick around until the service finally shutters sometime early next year. A close second would have been Xmarks until it got saved by LastPass.

Most amazing progress for the year definitely has to be Google Chrome. Whether or not you're already a fan of the increasingly popular web browser, you have to admit it's become a major contender in the browser wars this year. They've resolved a lot of the stability issues of the site and with the launch of extensions, the Google Web Store and other goodies, you have to admit Chrome is going places. And once you get around to Google Chrome OS, well, the sky's sort of the limit on changing the way we think about things.

Despite my not being a fan of the whole Apple universe, I have to admit that the one piece of technology that's made the most impact this year was the Apple iPad. Suddenly everyone is coming up with new rival tablet designs (or dredging up old ones) in an effort to compete in the market. And it's not even that great a tablet mind you - it's just because of how well it's packaged that has made it the driving technological force this year. It seems EVERYONE is determined to have one this year or is trying to find creative ways of using it.

Website of the year is definitely still Facebook. While you can argue that the movie alone didn't change things, the fact is that it has risen to the top of the heap. Facebook is the most-visited site in most countries around the world and a lot of social media marketing is increasingly built around the service. Plus their efforts to compete in the location market with Facebook Places and in the email market with Facebook Messaging, it's getting harder and harder to avoid the tech giant

And computer game of the year (for me at least) remains to be StarCraft II. Sure, it hasn't evolved all that much from the original game but the little tweaks, the addition of a stronger story and improved graphics have resulted in this being one of the most anticipated and celebrated games of the year. Plus it's a reminder to everyone that the real time strategy market isn't quite dead and not everyone is ready to jump on the MMORPG band-wagon.