2012 Year In Review: Geek Alabama’s Top Geeky Stories

By Nathan Young on January 1, 2013

2012 was filled some very big stories for the geeks and nerds out there. For people who really enjoys their technology this post is for you! Here is my top 10 geeky stories for 2012!

Apple Maps Failure

Apple released its own mapping app and dropped Google Maps when iO6 came out. This was a major mistake! The maps were missing transit directions and accuracy. And the maps were riddled with mistaken locations and outdated information. Things got so bad that Apple CEO Tim Cook (from Alabama) had to apologize. And Google released an iOS version of its popular maps in December. Apple Maps was released way too early!

Disney Buys Lucasfilm

I never thought I would see the day that Lucasfilm would be bought. But somehow, Disney got to buy Lucasfilm for around $4 billion. Disney has plans to make more Star Wars movies in the next few years. I thought George Lucas said there would be no more Star Wars films after six. I guess we were all wrong!

Windows 8 Debuts

Windows 8 came out in October 2012. The Modern user interface design is the single biggest change for the PC OS since Windows first started. And for some people like me, we don’t like the changes. The start button was taken out and a playful touchscreen interface that you would see on tablets is what you see now. My mom and younger brother got new computers and will have to get used to this big change. But I really do not like these changes!

SOPA / PIPA Protest

This happened very early in 2012. Many websites including Geek Alabama participated in a one day blackout to protest what Congress was trying to pass. Many people in the tech world were against these bills, they claimed they gave the US government too much power to go after websites that may, or may not, be offering copyrighted material illegally. Thankfully Congress killed these bills!

Apple vs. Samsung

Apple got a huge verdict in August when a jury found Samsung had violated its design patents for the iPhone and iPad when Samsung made its own Galaxy family of smartphones and tablets. The jury also said Samsung must pay just over $1 billion to Apple in damages that is pending an appeal. This shows that Apple has strength in the tech world!

The Instagram Story

Instagram was bought by Facebook for $1 billion in cash and stocks. And since the purchase Instagram has been in a downward spiral. It’s photos are not viewable on Twitter and it updated its terms of service and no one liked it! As of right now, Instagram has more than 100 million users.

Tablets Making Their Mark

2012 was a big year for tablets! Tablets from the iPad 2, Nexus, and Windows Surface have many fans. And now we have the mini tablets such as the iPad Mini, Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 for people to enjoy. Get used to it folks, tablets are here to stay and will eventually replace the laptop for good!

Wii U Comes Out

Smartphones and tablets are changing the world in the video game market. Sure, Nintendo bragged that it sold 400,000 units of the Wii U console for its launch week in the US in November. But the problem is this, the game industry has changed a lot in the last several years as more people play games on their tablets and smartphones. And people are playing free games on their PC’s, tablets, and smartphones. Console gaming will be gone in 10 years max!

iPhone 5 Comes Out

Apple came out with the iPhone 5 which has a long 4-inch screen, powerful A6 processor, and 4G coverage. The phone is the biggest and best Apple has released so far, and the consumers agree because the iPhone 5 sold over 5 million units within the first week of hitting the shelves!

Facebook’s Stock Market Debut

Facebook hit the Nasdaq this year and it went down fast! It was supposed to be the biggest tech IPO launch since Google. And right from the start there were technical problems and break downs. The Facebook stock has settled to around $25 a share and this is a lesson to everyone! Sometimes being greedy is bad!