Mikes Rant Christmas Edition – What I Got Right/Wrong in 2021!

For the last few years here at eTeknix, I’ve made it something of a tradition in the post-Christmas/pre-New Year period to make a number of predictions as to what I expect to see from the tech world over the next 12-months. Am I always right? Well, the short answer to that question is no. Just how far was I off the mark the last time around though? Well, let’s take a look a the predictions I made and find out!

Mike Prediction #1 – Google Will Discontinue the Stadia!

Getting things off to a bumpy start, I predicted that due to the exceptionally sluggish nature of Google Stadia sales, the tech giant would perhaps, somewhat quietly, kill off its streaming console this year. I mean, let’s be honest, until you read the title, how many of you had completely forgotten that the Stadia even existed? I know I had.

While this prediction might, on the surface, appear to be incorrect, however, I was accurate in some regard to it. Namely, that less than 2 months after making it, Google had confirmed the closure of its in-house gaming development for the system. In other words, any new titles set to be released for it would only come from third-party developers that choose to do it. So, in many respects, Google has sort of discontinued the Stadia. So, with that in mind, I think I’ve earned at least half a point!

Result – Sort of Right/Sort of Wrong

Prediction #2 – AMD Will Hit a 47% Desktop CPU Market Share!

I’m going to freely concede that this was one of my more optimistic predictions. I make very little secret of the fact that I am a pretty big supporter of the AMD Ryzen platform. In fact, ever since its release in 2017, I’ve owned and used 3 models from the various series with nothing but praise to offer for each of them. For one brief moment in 2021, however, AMD didn’t just hit a very firm 47% market share, but they actually achieved a desktop market dominance over Intel. Something which they hadn’t done for 15 years!

While that figure has since dipped to exactly 47%, however, did I get this one right? Well, surprisingly, yes!

Result – Correct

Prediction #3 – Noctua Will FINALLY Release an AIO Liquid Cooler

Nope. Sadly, this one did not happen. In many respects, however, there was a chance that, under normal circumstances, an AIO release by Noctua could’ve happened. It’s speculated that there is a design that’s well into development and a release (or at least a launch), in relative terms, could be made at practically any moment. – It does seem, however, that the ongoing shipping problems and material shortages, might have had a key impact in this not happening in 2021. – If, as, and when Noctua does release an AIO, rest assured they’re going to want a lot of fanfare made about it, and under current circumstances, while still possible, it’s certainly not ideal for a product launch as important as this.

On the plus side, however, we did at least get to see that amazing collaboration between ASUS and Noctua on that graphics card!

Result – Wrong!

Prediction #4 – Despite AMD’s ‘Big Navi’ Nvidia will Continue to Dominate the GPU Landscape

Now, admittedly, given how much Nvidia has dominated the graphics card market for the last 10 years, it always seemed unlikely that AMD’s Radeon 6000 series was going to have much of an impact. Given the comparative shortages seen with Nvidia 30XX series, however, there was a distinct possibility that better availability for Radeon 6000 could’ve seen them claw at least some market space.

The bottom line though is that, as per my prediction, it simply didn’t happen. AMD Radeon 6000 might not have been in demand as much as Nvidia 30XX, but the supply issues for both platforms were equally poor.

Just to put this into context though, in the latest Steam Hardware Survey, only 3 Nvidia 30XX graphics cards currently appear in the top 50 most commonly owned. For AMD, it’s just one. And that’s in the bottom 10. – Yep, in terms of GPUs, Nvidia is still definitely the King! (or Queen if you prefer).

Result – Correct!

Predictions #5 – Apple Will Discontinue the iPod

This is again a bit of a tricky one to judge. Officially speaking, the iPod, or more specifically the iPod Touch, is not yet dead. Let’s face it though, with it being over 36 months since the last official update, the writing is very firmly on the wall. It is, most definitely, a case of when it will be discontinued rather than if. – The fact is though that, at least as of the time of writing, the iPod is still, just about, twitching.

Who knows though, unofficially speaking it might actually be over now. With the lack of any formal announcement from Apple, however, I’m going to have to put myself down as missing the mark with this one. I suspect though that, deep down, I’m right about this one.

Result – Wrong

Mikes Rant Christmas Edition – How Do You Think I Did?

Ok, so in conclusion, I have to admit that overall I haven’t done particularly well this year. Then again, with a score of 2.5 on many points that might have seemed crazy this time last year, I don’t think I did too badly. Particularly considering there were a couple of instances where I was (for better or worse) so very nearly right. All going well though, with 2022 on the horizon, maybe a more sensible year in terms of pandemics, chipset shortages, global shipping constraints, and all other disasters that might befall us, this might help me get back on track!

More Mikes Rants!

For more of Mike’s Ranty Christmas/Net Year 2021 specific content, you can check here for the latest release! – They’ll be one every day over the holiday period!

NB. Mikes Rant is a semi-comedic opinion piece and may not reflect the opinion of eTeknix as a whole!