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Tech Check is CNN.com's weekly technology podcast
This week, the crew breaks down some of the top stories of 2011
Steve Jobs' death, the rise of the tablet market and expanding social media are discussed
This week on the Tech Check podcast, Doug Gross, Stephanie Goldberg and Brandon Griggs take a look back at 2011, breaking down some of the top technology stories of the year.
The sad passing of Apple’s Steve Jobs leads off the discussion. The crew discusses memories of Jobs and how his absence may impact Apple going forward.
We also look at the emergence of the tablet market in 2011. Last year, the iPad was the only gadget that most folks knew about when they considered tablets. A year later, virtually every big tech player has taken a shot at breaking into the market.
But, will anybody ever actually be able to compete head-to-head? The Kindle Fire got some traction at a lower price point, but other nice-looking tablets stepped up only to get knocked down.
The expanding role of social media is discussed, as we look at the emergence of Google+ as well as Facebook’s “seamless sharing” move to incorporate nearly everything you do on the Web onto their site. (We’ve got mixed feelings, although Spotify got a unanimous thumbs-up).
And it wouldn’t be Tech Check if we didn’t rudely bring up a few “Tech Fails.” The misguided Netflix split, Anthony Weiner’s unfortunate tweets and the penchant of Apple employees to drop their prototype phones in bars come up.
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