Top IT Trends of 2005?

When I saw the headline for an InfoWorld article 2005's top 10 moments in IT, I really anticipated something meaty. I have to say that I was disappointed. The author describes these events as "earth shaking". Some are...some aren't. For example:

Vapor Without the Ware Oct. 4: The Web 2.0 buzz proved so compelling,
Google (Profile, Products, Articles) and Sun made a high-profile, nearly substance-free announcement hinting that Google might one day distribute a thin client version of Sun’s OpenOffice. Shortly thereafter, Microsoft felt driven to announce its Live Software initiative, a software-as-a-service plan that was almost as thin on details.

Hello? Didn't you just say these were non-events? Hardly the stuff for the top events of 2005. In my view, software-as-a-service is a continuing trend. Microsoft has been heading that direction for a number of years, as have Google, Yahoo, and a host of others. We're starting to see some promising results, and those have been labeled "Web 2.0". Again, not big news for 2005. The delay in SOX compliance doesn't seem earth-shaking, nor does the release of two new Microsoft products--even if they are SQL Server and Visual Studio 2005.

And finally, while The World is Flat is undoubtedly one of my favorite books, I hardly think that it "dragged the dark issues of outsourcing into the light". (Outsourcing doesn't automatically equate to off-shoring American jobs, although that is often the case. Further, why do we think it's okay to be "global corporations" but not "global employers"? After all, a global company should employ people around the globe, right?)

I do agree that the RFID compliance mandated by Walmart and DoD is big. As is the vote in Massachusetts to adopt Open Document Format (that is really, really big). But much of the rest of the list doesn't seem terribly well thought out.