As we near the end of 2017 we take the opportunity to fill the couch – both IRL and online – with some familiar faces. It’s a full house indeed with Jim Lokay, Will Rutherford, Mike Pound, Cynthia Closkey, John Carman, Bobby Cherry, Brian Crawford, and Krause. But, we’ve still got our usual faces with Sorg and Chilla, and a very special visit from our Patreon supporter, Michael Fedor. 

• We’re starting the top of the show with everyone’s Awesome Thing of the Year items.
• Chilla’s Awesome Thing of the Year is his Apple AirPods.
• Brian’s Awesome Thing of the Year is NOT the tech items he recently purchased – but the sweet bag he got to carry it all!
• Krause’s Awesome Thing of the Year is his Google Pixel 2XL.
• Will’s Awesome Thing of the Year is a “really interesting idea.” He’s interested in TXT.FYI – a stripped down blog.
• Lokay’s Awesome Thing of the Year is HQ – the quiz app.
• Cynthia’s AirPods are her Awesome Thing for Life. As her Awesome Thing of the Year, she’s going with 17776.
• Mike Pound’s Awesome Thing of the Year is Amazon Echo.
• Patreoner Michael Fedor’s Awesome Thing of the Year is Patreon’s redo of their fee structure.
• Bobby is sharing his Awesome Thing of the Year – his Google Home.
• John Carman’s Awesome Thing of the Year is Google’s Pixel Buds.
• Sorg’s Awesome Thing of the Year is the realization of handheld internet through his AT&T Wireless plan.
• We’re running through our 2017 predictions from last year – and whether or not they actually came true.
• And, then we turn to predictions for 2018!(With a shout out to Rob Johnston and the Vine 2 launch!)
  

  Lokay: Vine2 is going to be a failure.

  Will Rutherford: Net neutrality is going to get pushed through and it’s going to be a kerfluffle. ISPs are going to do what ISPs do, but customers are going to drop like flies. They’re going to lose so much business that they’re going to roll things back and it will all be for naught.

  Mike Pound: Digital side of journalism is going to continue to build in 2018.

  Cynthia Closkey: Continued escalation of Google/Apple/Amazon streaming war. Apple TV available for sale on Amazon again.

  Michael Fedor: Disney will have one major purchase in the next year. (Jokingly introduced with: Living under the United States of Disney. Disney will pay down national debt and come in on some sort of crisis.)

  John Carman: We’re going to see the first Amazon Key burglary.

  Bobby Cherry: Elon Musk is going to have some breakthrough next year – through one of his companies.

  Chilla: We’re going to see another huge dropoff on PC technology.

  Brian Crawford: We’re going to start turning into cyborgs with our wearable tech and implant devices. We’re also going to see regulations regarding drones.

  Krause: AR is going to be a much bigger deal than even VR is now.

  Sorg: Podcasting is going to be de-emphasized in 2018.

After the show remember to:

Eat at Slice on Broadway (@Pgh_Slice) if you are in the Pittsburgh area! It is Awesome! (sliceonbroadway.com)

Join our AwesomeCast Facebook Group to see what we’re sharing and to join the discussion?

Follow these awesome people on Twitter:  Jim Lokay (@Lokay), Will Rutherford (@DjLunchbox), Mike Pound (@unclecrappy), Cynthia Closkey (@cynthiacloskey), John Carman (@carmanavenue), Bobby Cherry (@GoBobbo), Brian Crawford (@RiverTalkPGH), Krause (@KrazyKrause), Michael Fedor (@mikefedorshow), Chilla (@chilla) and Sorg (@Sorgatron)

Have you seen our AwesomeTips videos?

You can support the show at Patreon.com/awesomecast!

Remember to check out our friends at River’s Edge (@RiversEdgePGH) and The 405 Media who replay the show on their stream throughout the week!

Also, check out sorgatronmedia.com and awesomecast.com for more entertainment; and view us livestreaming Tuesdays around 7:00 PM EST!