Predictions 2021

Last year we started the episode with a joke about this being the most fun Predictions because 2020 would be in hindsight. This year most of us are glad to see it go. Even with the year we’ve all had, this is still one of the most fun episodes we record each year. Both Will and BJ look forward to reviewing their predictions from the previous year and creating new ones. It’s important to stay up to date with the changes in technology, especially in your particular field. 2020 was not the year any of us expected, but its challenges have also opened the door to a lot of opportunities. Even with all the stuff going on almost all of our predictions came true. Much of this has to do with our predictions being about technology and the industry around it. If anything the events of this past year have cemented our dependency on technology in our daily lives. While 2020 was not the year many of us hoped it would be, we here at Complete Developer Podcast are excited to see what 2021 has to bring. BJ’s Predictions We’re going to see a lot more people working remote from distant locations. 2020 has taught the doubters that remote work is a valid option in many industries. I was already remote before 2020 but we recently learned that we won’t have an office to come into and that we’ll just be coming in when needed. Friends in other industries have seen their offices shut down and employees told they can work from anywhere because they are able to get the job done and don’t need to pay for the office space. Hawaii seeing a downturn in tourism is offering to help people fly out there to work remote. There will be a rapid increase in paranoia and anti-science rhetoric as more is understood about the COVID-19 virus and early assumptions are shown to be false. As vaccines enter the human trials we’ve already seen a rise in the anti-vax movement. Virology, epidemiology, and medicine are highly specialized fields but you will see people and even news media take things out of context or not understand the science or process behind something and then try to make a judgement on it. No more whiteboard interviews. With remote work on the boom and the industry moving forward while still distancing, we’ve seen that tech interviews do not need to include the white board. There will be new tools developed to better assess a candidate’s abilities and thought processes when coding. Many of the training and pair programming tools have been repurposed for interviews during the pandemic. We’ll see more of these tools developed and marketed for remote interviewing. We’re going to see a shift in music culture. Not only will we see a lot of new and creative music coming from artists who are already popular but we’ll see different types of music becoming popular. Garage bands and people who previously hadn’t been big in the music world will start to become popular. Already music stores have seen an increase in interest in the guitar. Prior to COVID it had been on the decline but is seeing a renewed interest. Will’s Predictions Look for medically inclined tampering with your life (in ways harmful and not) to increase in the next year. It’s not just covid, but a variety of things that people would have been wary of will probably come to pass in the next year, including things like temperature scanning when entering places with crowds, etc., and more stringent enforcement of vaccine mandates. The political heat over where the line is will continue to ratchet up as well in response. However, it also means that there is a much bigger market for things that will be positive in the long run. Regulatory pressure is going to be brought to bear more forcefully on big tech companies,