I’m still terrified of open wifi cause of FireSheep
Still can’t use mouse gestures on special pages in Chrome (config, extensions/themes browser, default screen)
HTML5 still doesn’t have the tech that Netflix/Hulu need, so we’re still looking at living with Silverlight and Flash. Part of me wants to see someone try and go backwards in terms of tech and stream content with a Java applet instead of Flash/Silverlight.
Webpages load more slowly than they did years ago, or at best no faster. I’m going to blame this on huge Javascript includes and rich media. I’ll also blame this on the overwhelming focus on bandwidth compared to latency.
Skype 5 beta for Mac has fewer features than Skype 2.8
I still can’t get a newer mobo/cpu to work with my old PATA hard drive for my HTPC
Some common file formats are really quite old - mp3, jpeg, and gif are prime examples. As for images, people have shown time and time again that they can achieve good compression over jpeg with better quality. Unfortunately, we tend to view space as cheap anyway. As for audio, a part of me is surprised how well MP3 has weathered the time. On the other hand, even if there might be better formats, I don’t want to convert my library.
Still can’t buy some songs online… which is amazing
common software is still sketchy
CMS software still doesn’t have an optimized user interface, integrated plagiarism software, syntax highlighting, or a means of writing on the submission (like pdf annotations)
Flash somehow uses 100% of both cores of a dual core CPU at times. Offloading to onboard video isn’t a big step forward when it’s integrated video
iTunes somehow has introduced popping to audio now and then. I think Apple is going for a retro vibe here, from the days when technology was less reliable. Granted, it still uses way too much CPU to decode on a 2-3yr old computer compared to WinAmp on an 8-year old computer.
Still haven’t found the perfect pen or pencil yet…
Netflix
studios are still hesitant to give Netflix the same priority as brick-and-mortar stores. The release schedule is even more delayed for streaming video.
still can’t watch most foreign movies with foreign audio and English subtitles. If this were 2002 I’d be understanding of technological issues, but it’s 2011. I believe they say they can’t do it cause of Silverlight.
unexpected progress
new and useful Chrome extensions keep coming out
From using Firefox for years, I just felt like most of the useful extensions that could be written probably had been written. Granted, sometimes an application meets a need I didn’t realize I had before.
LastPass is a wonderful way to maintain a password file across computers, and is pretty secure.
Readability is an excellent alternative to Safari’s Reader. There are newer, more popular ones, but Readability doesn’t leave me wanting.
PriceBlink doesn’t seem to bog down my system, and gives me useful context for online shopping.
Steam on Mac
Windows 7 is excellent
I graduated!
VP8 encoders/decoders have progressed a lot in terms of quality and speed. I honestly expected VP8 to flop, especially based on the analysis over at the x264 dev blog, but it seems like they stand a good chance now.
Live video streaming is easier than ever with LiveStream, uStream, etc. The flip side is that they increased commercial intrusiveness after becoming more popular.
gaming
there’s more focus on quality storylines and creative mechanics now rather than focusing entirely on slightly better graphics
small downloadable titles are progressing quickly, making it much easier to get into game development
The combination of a weather balloon with consumer-grade photography produced some amazing photos for very little. (I think NASA was quoted in saying they would’ve spent millions to achieve the same results)
DIY UAVs are becoming more popular, and some of the results are very impressive.