2011: Looking back, looking forward

Yet again in 2010, we were led to believe the price of solid state drives (SSDs) would diminish and they would become the affordable alternative to spinning disk, whilst revving up speeds previously unheard of.

However, it was just a dream and although prices have dropped, they are still too expensive for most.

We are closer than we have ever been to making SSDs the natural choice. After the broken promises of this year, my hope for 2011 is that it really becomes the year of the SSD and we can have them on new machines as standard.

Alan Lu, reviews editor

High of 2010

I don't usually watch soap operas, but I would if they were half as entertaining as the Mark Hurd affair.

The now ex-CEO of HP departed the technology multinational in what are still murky and poorly understood circumstances. Although Hurd was cleared of allegations of sexual harassment involving a former HP consultant, the company's board apparently lost its confidence in him and effectively fired him, ostensibly for fiddling his expenses.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison then lambasted the HP board for letting Hurd go and, putting his money where his mouth is, promptly hired Hurd. This prompted a lawsuit by HP, although this was quickly settled.

The Mark Hurd Show even spawned a spin-off when Oracle threatened to subpoena HP's new CEO, Lo Apotheker, in its industrial espionage lawsuit against rival SAP.

Although it's wrong to take pleasure in the failings of others, I'll make an exception when they're as melodramatic as this.