Wishes for Microsoft, Sony and others as we enter 2006

It's a new year, which means it's not only time to reflect upon the past 12 months, but it's a time to make a clean sweep --- "out with the old and in with the new."

So, with that in mind, here are a few things I would like to see in 2006 --- and, since this is a geek-related opus, they don't include wishes for world peace or happiness for all.

Let's find a special place in the universe (known or unknown) for all those spammers, virus and spyware creators and Nigerian e-mailers where they can play among themselves and no longer annoy us.

Let us pray for a year when we won't be bombarded with reminders on how vulnerable Microsoft's new Vista operating system will be as its foes take early potshots trying to increase their one-to-seven percent shares of the operating system market.

Let us hope that the folks at Sony don't "severely underestimate" the demand for their Playstation 3 gaming console leaving us panting as we prepare to spend our hard-earned bucks on another device guaranteed to keep us glued to our TV sets.

Please give us scads of gadgets that are REALLY "as good as" or "better than" the originals. And, if you're going to manufacture a product to ride the wave of a specific technology, how about making it more innovative than its predecessors. Maybe, develop something that is actually new or unique.

Let us finally deal a deathblow to competing standards that only succeed in confusing and annoying us. These include such demons as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth; and anything with a -, +, RW or RAM attached to its name.

How about a year of trouble-free cable or DSL Internet service, or HDTV that is actually, well, transmitted in HD?

Finally, could this be the year all of the tech gurus recognize the potential of the New York metropolitan area and bring a geek-tech-consumer trade show to Manhattan worth attending?

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