In part two of my 2010 preview of ‘things I’m looking forward to’ I enter the world of Technology and Music….

Tech

Chrome OS

Google’s next step in world domination sees them enter the world of operating systems with their Chromium OS, an open source lightweight uber web browser it seems. Contrary to what some people thought, Chrome isn’t designed to be a windows beater and I think this is its major strength.

You see, Google already own the internet. And whether you like it or not it’s nigh on impossible to browse the internet without using a Google service, or a service owned by Google. From email, to maps, blogging, web analytics, photo storage, file sharing, voice-over-IP and of course the infamous search engine, chances are whatever you do on the web Google has a hand in. Oh, and they also own a little video sharing site called YouTube…

With all this dominance in web based applications, what would be the point in Google trying to beat Microsoft Windows? Microsoft already has the desktop operating system market tied up, so what do you do? Create your own market.

Chrome OS will essentially be a web browser running on specialist hardware (ie, netbooks). Now, I don’t own a netbook but I imagine people who do bought one because that’s all they really need one for: accessing the internet. And with enough Google web apps around to run your life/manage your business why would you need anything more?

For these reasons I’m super excited about Chrome OS. You see, I happen to be in the market for a netbook; my website revolves around Gmail/GDocs/Youtube/FlickR, all web based services. Hell, I even own an Android powered HTC Hero. If these two operating systems happen to converge sometime in the future, then I for one welcome our new Google overlords.

Music

Meatloaf

Seriously? Meatloaf has a new album coming out? That. Is. Awesome.

I remember my dad taking me to see Meat Loaf live at Aberdeen Exhibition Centre way back in the day and just being absolutely blown away by the performance. As a young man who hadn’t seen many live performances, the sight of Meatloaf taking the stage and belting out hit after hit was simply extraordinary.

For starters, he had a giant hydraulic bat suspended from the rafters. A GIANT HYDRAULIC BAT. In my book that already grants a five star review, let alone the epic length of his live songs. See, his songs are already quite long, but naturally when you play live you want to give the fans a little something extra and so he extends them a bit. I swear to the maker, in one hour he played perhaps only three songs. The man likes to jam!

So basically I’m excited because it’ll probably mean I get to see him live again once the album is out. I’m sure the album will be decent too, but with Meatloaf I’ve always thought it was about the live show.

Devo

Not much to say about this, other than I’m more curious than excited. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think much of ‘Watch us Work’. ‘Dont Shoot (I’m a Man)’ was ok, partly because the title (and subsequent chorus) makes me chuckle. If rumours are true then the reason the album was delayed to 2010 is because they wanted to ‘radically remix’ it. Very intriguing….