2008 will be the Year of the Web Worker

Now that 2007 is slowly rumbling to an end, I’ve glanced back at all of the amazing breakthroughs that have been made over the course of the year. Microsoft released Windows Vista; Apple released the iPhone, new iMac and new iPods; and many other new products and services have emerged.

Web Worker Daily would like to know why…

2008 will be the Year of the Web Worker

In response, I’d like to say that 2008 will be the Year of the Web Worker because the office will be everywhere, meaning that it will be available through the Web and not physically constrained to one building. To illustrate this, my uncle (who is a lawyer and president of a condominium owners’ board) and my aunt (who basically works hand-in-hand with him) have had a Sprint EV-DO card that they use with their laptop for the greater portion of the year. With that, they’ve been working in New York (their hometown), St. Thomas, Los Angeles, and even Hawaii.

More recently, my uncle bought a BlackBerry. Needless to say, he has become addicted to it. (I explained to him what a CrackBerry is.) However, he still says that having one is like having your office in your pocket. The street is an office (he stopped to write some emails while walking with me this morning), a bus becomes and office, and an airline terminal transforms into an office.

In 2008, more and more work will be done through the web. Thanks to services like Gmail and GoToMeeting (which sponsors several of my favorite podcasts), as well as laptop computers and even more portable handheld communicators (like the BlackBerry and Palm Treo series handhelds), people can connect with anyone no matter where they are, whether it be across town, across the nation or even around the world.

In 2008, “anywhere availability” will be much more common. Prices for wireless Internet connection services will fall, and the number of people realizing the potential of teleworking will greatly increase (perhaps the announced 3G iPhone will help). My father is really putting his Verizon EV-DO card to work; he occasionally works from home on days he knows issues can crop up and keep him in the office longer than necessary.

Aside: If you answer WWD’s question, you could be win one of five Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000 sets, which consists of Microsoft’s ergonomically designed keyboard and mouse set.