Job Market
The job market could get even worse in December, according to Bernard Baumohl, chief economist at the Economic Outlook Group. He anticipates that job losses will continue to deepen at least through the first half of 2009 – a sobering reality to keep in mind when you're on the job market. You may want to think about postponing that career move if you've got something stable now – but that give you more time to plan.
Video Games
The Gamasutra blog speculates on how Sony will strategize its PSP, which is a smash hit in Japan but has yet to fully catch on in America, in 2009. One possibility: A PSP phone, which would be a good move, given the fact that handhelds are an increasingly hot market.
Technology
Social networking is now so hot that people are writing viruses specifically to attack it: Facebook has been hit by the Koobface virus, which is activated with a shared video file. A similar infection has already hit MySpace. If you use such sites for your career networking – and we strongly advise you to do so – be very careful, and make sure your virus software is consistently up to date.
Meanwhile, Google seems to be directly taking on Facebook with its new Friend Connect service, which allows Web site owners to add social networking features like chat, games and ratings by pasting a line of code – similar to what Facebook offers with its Connect service.
Twitter CEO and co-founder Evan Williams says the company, which was almost taken over by Facebook recently, will "move revenue higher on the list of priorities' during the first quarter of 2009. One route being looked at to pay the bills is advertising, but Williams said they are considering other, more out-of-the-box options, such as working with corporate users selling products over Twitter. This kind of thinking is what's necessary to shore up an idea that has a lot of potential but is bogged down by the current economic challenges.
One definite success story in handhelds is Pandora, which offers an Internet radio streaming service for iPhone. The company's app has exceeded two million downloads, and revenue comes from in-app ads from companies like Best Buy, Target and Nike. This proves you can have a solid success by identifying a hot market and then a consumer need within that market – maybe even a need that users don't realize they have themselves.
Media
Following NBC's cuts in staff, including trimming back its Washington bureau, staffers at ABC News are bracing for a similar round of layoffs in the new year. It's a sobering reality that even people who seem to have reached the very top of their profession are facing the same economic woes and job fears as the "average Joe."
– Bonnie