2020 Predictions

Ok, here's my 2020 Predictions.  A much shorter list this year.  I still think a few things from last year are plausible, like Salesforce, Oracle and Microsoft going big on HR just as Google ends Hire.

1. After a bidding war, Microsoft triumphs over Salesforce in taking over Comcast.net -- say hello to your new @outlook.com email address.  This was a consolation prize, however, after the surprise announcement that Google had purchased the Verizon Media Group mailboxes (@verizon.net, @aol.com, @yahoo.com, @att.net, etc.). At this point, do we even still call it email, or should we just start calling it gmail?

2. Warner Bros. launches HBO Max as scheduled, but by then it has a different name designed to appeal to a broader audience including people who have a negative perception of HBO.  It's not The WB, but it has a more playful approach than its competition, especially in its pre-launch positioning. Advertising features the phrase "NOW it's time to cut your cable." with people clutching lengthy expensive cable bills in their hands as they shout to the neighbors about being "mad as hell" as they literally take scissors, gardening shears, shovels, axes and weedwhackers to the sides of their houses to cut the actual cable. The nod to "Network" isn't lost on Communications Majors.

3. NBCUniversal launches Peacock but by years' end it's a joint venture with Amazon that also brings Amazon programming to Comcast cable subscribers.

4. Netflix begins selling add-on subscriptions to other streaming services to compete with Hulu and Amazon Prime. By year's end, you can add Hulu to your Netflix subscription or Netflix to your Hulu subscription. But you still have to juggle all the apps.

5. Netflix and Hulu engage in a bidding war for Discovery's streaming business. It's not decided by the end of the year due to multiple legal battles and government investigations. Disney and Apple emerge as late stage suiters making it even more confusing.

6. Amazon purchases an automotive parts chain and begins installing industrial 3D printers in each location. By August, you can order many automotive parts or tools (including for defunct brands and models) and pick up the part within 24 hours. By year's end, Amazon is experimenting with printing-on-demand for other products.  (In 2021, Amazon lets you design simpler products - think basic jewelry and figurines - that are printed when ordered.)

What doesn't happen in 2020:

• AT&T spins off WarnerMedia and DirecTV, sending them off with a bunch of AT&Ts debt. 
• Salesforce buys Oracle.
• Disney buys Apple.
• Google parent Alphabet purchases an island in the Pacific, reincorporates on the island, declares itself a sovereign country and begins building a rocket and launch platform with plans for a moonbase.
• Fox Corporation buys Crown Family Media Networks and Sinclair Broadcast Group and Lionsgate.
• Discovery buys ViacomCBS. 
• Twitter or Wal*Mart buys TikTok.
• Sprint PCS files for bankruptcy.
• PayPal buys Square.
• Fire Sales: Amazon acquires Uber's assets and Wal*Mart buys WeWork's assets.
• Elon Musk announces a new Tesla Motorcycle, the IM2, a two-door sedan called the Model 4 (what?) and a new sailboat (what?) called the "MyShirt" (Yes, this is a Right Said Fred joke. Deal with it.)
• Roku still doesn't put search front-and-center in its User Interface.  I don't get it.