2007 Products of the Year

I'm stuck at home today with a touch of the stomach flu -- thanks for the holiday gift, kids! (they both had it last week). Boy, do I hate being sick. But I am comforted by Michigan's hiring of a new football coach, Rich Rodriguez, formerly of West Virginia. That search took much longer than anticipated and Michigan nation was getting very restless, but at the end of the day I don't think we could have done any better. I can't wait to see what he does; for the first time in a long while I am very excited for an upcoming season. That said, I think Florida will destroy us in the Capital One bowl on January 1.

Anyway, on to my list of top products for 2007:

6. Sirius.

I know Sirius isn't new, but it still rules all the same. If you spend more than a half hour a day in the car, what are you waiting for? Special props to their mobile device, the Stiletto.

5. Apple iPhone Bluetooth Headset

I know I sound like an Apple fanboy, and I guess that I am, but this bluetooh headset really rocks. It fits perfectly, isn't obtrusive, and most importantly, it seemlessly pairs with nearly any phone. I think this is one of Apple's finest products yet I think it's gotten a bit lost in their lineup and therefore hasn't received the accolades that it deserves. if you are in the market for a bluetooth headset, this is the one.

4. Tie Between Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader.

I do not own either product, but I likely will in 2008. I've long been a fan of both products and I think they both have their unique attributes: the Sony has a terrific design (note that Sony is one of my clients though I don't represent the Reader product), while the Kindle is smartly designed, particularly with its built in wireless capability. The next generation Kindle will be worth taking a hard look at.

3. Windows Mobile 6.0

I wrote about this before but I am super impressed by WM 6.0. With the exception of a few minor things, it is a dramatic improvement on 5.0 and it has exceeded my expectations. Blackberry now has real reason to be concerned.

2. Motorola Q9

I'm definitely a "phone guy" and have tried them all. While I thought the first version of the Q was a straight up dud, they nailed this one. It's got everything and the GPS feature is a terrific added bonus. Sadly, since I got this about a month ago, my iphone has been somewhat sidelined. Which brings me to number one.

1. iPhone.

The only reason I have iPhone ranked first versus the Q is because it is revolutionary, versus the Q, which is evolutionary. The iPhone really is brilliantly designed and executed, but it still has two very severe shortcomings: the EDGE network sucks no matter how you look at it (and there simply aren't enough open WIFI networks to compensate) and no ability to link with Outlook email, thus rendering it freaking useless for corporate purposes -- which really bugs the hell out of me. I thought this would have been worked out months ago. That said, it is still one terrific device.