The technology industry often finds itself pontificating about the future, but the busy news cycle this year gave us plenty to discuss.

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Top 10 Biggest Tech Stories of the Year
2011
Top 10 Biggest Tech Stories of the
Year 2011
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The technology industry often finds itself pontifica-
ting about the future, but the busy news cycle this
year gave us plenty to discuss.
Very influential tech pioneers died; cyber-security
cost companies billions of dollars; and trends in
electronics and on the Web provided new tools and
created new challenges.
Smartphones and tablets each grew so immensely
this year that we decided to give them their own mo-
bile year-in-review list.
As for future talk, there were plenty of bold, futuris-
tic initiatives that did not quite bear fruit this year.
The seeds of Hewlett-Packard’s mobile strategy,
Google’s plans for Motorola post-acquisition, Intel’s
3-D silicon transistors and mobile payment systems
like Google Wallet were planted this year. But those
stories were left off of this list because their products
did not reach a mass market in 2011. Look for those
to make big splashes in 2012.
These 10 stories in 2011 had a huge impact that
could resonate for many years:
1. Steve Jobs dies
From humble middle-class roots to running the
most valuable tech company in the world, Apple
co-founder Steve Jobs was powerful and revered. His
death on October 5 after a long battle with cancer
made waves around the world.
Public grieving could be seen outside Apple’s hun-
dreds of stores, where fans left flowers, candles and
written notes of tribute. His authorized biography
by Walter Isaacson, which came out in November,
instantly became a bestseller.
At Apple, Jobs helped create the personal computer
industry, and built a team that worked with him
to design mega hits like the iMac, iPod, iPhone and
iPad. He also found time to lead Pixar Animation
Studios, the “Toy Story” creator that the Walt Disney
Co. paid $7.4 billion to acquire in 2006.
The fast-paced tech industry halted for a moment
after Jobs’ death this year, prompting business and
world leaders to speak publicly about his impact.
It may never be the same after.
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Top 10 Biggest Tech Stories of the Year 2011
2. Social media’s role as a tool for
protestors
Much praise was heaped on Facebook, Twitteran-
dYouTube after they played a role in the Arab Spring,
a series of protests in the Middle East that started
late in 2010.
Use of social networks to spread the word about
demonstrations persisted this year, especially in the
Egyptian uprising that toppled longtime President
Hosni Mubarak.
In London, participants in riots used BlackBerry
Messenger.
Micro reports from Occupy Wall Street and other
U.S. protests frequently popped up on Twitter.
Perhaps in a nod to those events, Facebook CEO
Mark Zuckerberg said onstage at his conference
this year, “We exist at the intersection of technology
and social issues.”
3. Hackers
The Guy Fawkes mask, a stark white symbol of
political upheaval, can be seen at many Occupy
protests, but the accessory from the movie “V for
Vendetta” was adopted earlier by an online group
called Anonymous.
Members of the loosely organized group emerged
from the Internet underground this year with a
series of politically fueled computer attacks on
churches, e-commerce and banks. A sister group
called Lulz Security staged its own hacks before
quickly vanishing.
After Sony’s online networks had been hacked,
researchers discovered a file planted on one of
its servers containing the Anonymous chant, “We
are legion.” The word “hack” was so ingrained in
people’s vernacular after all of these incidents that
it became a catchphrase anytime a site was down
or an account password had been stolen.
4. Tablet market gets dozens of new
entrants
The decade-old tablet PC market received a jolt with
new products this year, sparked by the massive suc-
cess of Apple’s iPad.
Electronics makers tried to figure out whether
consumers were looking for tablets or just iPads.
Google, with its Android tablets, and Research in
Motion, with the BlackBerry PlayBook, were not
pleased with the answer.
Amazon.com may have cracked the formula with its
$199 Kindle Fire. It has been selling about a million
devices each week since it debuted in November.
Hewlett-Packard only managed to attract meanin-
gful sales to its TouchPad when it ran a $99 fire sale
to clear inventory.
5. Google+
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Top 10 Biggest Tech Stories of the Year 2011
People are spending more of their time on social
networks than searching the Web. In other words,
more Facebook and less Google.
So Google created its own Facebook-like environ-
ment in Google+. Users can share photos and browse
friends’ updates.
Google+ got off to a promising start, but Facebook
has had a long lead. Google asserts that its social
network is key to the future of the company. That’s
a big bet.
6. Facebook and partners add ‘frictionless’ sha-
ring
What do you call it when someone you know finds
out something about you without you telling them?
Facebook calls it “frictionless,” and companies that
have implemented the feature, including some
music-streaming services and news publishers,
have found a great promotional vehicle.
Still, many are opposed to their private reading
habits being broadcast instantly to their Facebook
pages. Zuckerberg is convinced people will conti-
nue publishing more about themselves online each
year — now, whether they actively choose to or not.
7. Patent wars
The biggest names in mobile, including Apple,
Google, HTC, Microsoft, RIM and Samsung, have
engaged in a giant game of patent Risk.
These companies have filed lawsuits and counter-
suits in countries around the world to seek licensing
agreements or block the sale of rivals’ products.
Google has said that its $12.5 billion acquisition of
Motorola Mobility was to gain the phone maker’s
stockpile of patents.
Check with your local government about whether
you can legally buy a Galaxy Tab in stores this week.
8. Spotify and Facebook take on digital music
With iTunes and iPod, Apple had a strong formula
for dominating the digital music industry. Amazon
and Google haven’t made a dent.
But Spotify has proved itself as a worthy opponent
in Europe, and after years of negotiations with the
record labels, it finally hit U.S. shores this year.
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Top 10 Biggest Tech Stories of the Year 2011
Facebook Music, a page that shows what friends are
listening to, has helped introduce wider audiences
to on-demand streaming services like Spotify, MOG,
Rdio and Rhapsody.
9. Apple becomes the most valuable company
in the world
When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he said the
company was weeks away from bankruptcy. Over
the next decade, he orchestrated a masterful turna-
round that culminated in Apple briefly becoming
the world’s most valuable company by market ca-
pitalization.
Exxon Mobil has reclaimed a sizable lead, but that
shouldn’t undermine how effective Apple has been
in creating a lust for gizmos. The ultra-thin iPad 2
has done gangbusters, and the iPhone 4S, with Siri,
has introduced voice-command services to a wider
audience this year.
10. IBM’s Watson beats human champs on ‘Jeo-
pardy!’
At times, the Watson computer, built by IBM, failed to
understand some nuances of the English language,
prompting mocking laughter.
However, as the world had learned when IBM’s
Deep Blue defeated chess champion Gary Kasparov,
computers aren’t clueless. Watson proved that two
smart men, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, were no
match for banks of servers running artificial-intel-
ligence software.
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