10 Web Predictions for 2017

I've listed predictions for several years, and I'm generally proved wrong, but here goes …

The 2016 Results

I scored 3.5 out of 10 in 2015, so let's see how my 2016 forecasts fared.

1. A Major Corporate Hack Will Occur

This was a dead certainty, and hacking news rolled in from January. It seems unfair to name names, but Yahoo!, the US Department of Justice, Snapchat, Verizon, LinkedIn, Oracle and Dropbox are just the start. Perhaps it would be easier to list which companies were not compromised?

Frustratingly, few attacks are sophisticated. A little care and security expertise would have prevented most. 1 out of 1 --- but don't expect this 100% success rate to last!

2. Static Sites Will Go Mainstream

I predicted static site generators (SSGs) such as Jekyll, Middleman and Metalsmith would become increasingly popular. SSGs produce a fully-cached site which is secure and highly scalable. A large number of WordPress sites would benefit.

It's difficult to measure adoption because SSGs generate plain HTML and don't necessarily reveal themselves. Despite some attention, I couldn't claim they went "mainstream". SSGs are not eating into WordPress's market, which now powers 27.3% of the web (and 58.5% of sites running a content management system).

1 out of 2 --- this is more familiar!

3. Chrome's Market Share Will Plateau

This was another obvious forecast; no software can expect exponential user growth forever. I correctly stated Chrome would not reach 60% on desktop devices by the year end. Admittedly, 59% isn't far off, but I'm taking the point!

2 out of 3!

4. Vivaldi Will Attract Attention

Vivaldi is a powerful new browser worthy of praise. It's reminiscent of Opera 12 --- which is understandable, given it was created by ex-Opera employees.

This prediction was spectacularly vague, but Vivaldi has attracted attention even if some was caused by me. 3 out of 4 --- this is going surprisingly well!

5. Apple Must Address Safari's Shortcomings

Safari has fallen noticeably behind others, despite being the only real web browser on the iPhone and iPad. Apple has committed to a few lackluster annual updates, but Safari lethargy continues to hold back the mobile web.

3 out of 5 --- thanks Apple.

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by Craig Buckler via SitePoint