Tech That Will (Probably) Die in 2017

This time last year, I slapped on my prognosticator hat and attempted to guess which notable technologies, brands, and devices would (probably, and in some instances, hopefully) meet their demise in the following 12 months. A sort of tech death pool. And as you can see in the comments, all the readers were totally on board with this morbid experiment!

This feature partly existed as a place to vent about the technologies we cover all year long. It was an opportunity to be a jerk. I don't think I'll get a job predicting global markets any time soon, but as it turned out, I managed to get a few correct:

1. Meerkat: Boom
2. Groupon: Somehow, some way, still going
3. Windows Phones: Sorta? Put it back on the list this year.
4. Foursquare: Ugh.
5. Google+: It continued its slow death, but it's still going.
6. Blogger: Google kills Google Reader, but not this?
7. Yahoo: Kinda sorta? More on that in this year's list—Yahoo had a bad year.
8. Google Wallet: Sorta? Still around, but they just pivoted away from P.O.S. payments.
9. Ello: Still going. They're going for the loooong goodbye.
10. BlackBerry: Boom
11. Elon Musk: Proud to be wrong

So, out of a possible 11, I scored two on the nose with three kinda-maybes. At its most generous, I got 46 percent right. I'm okay with that, but I aim to do far better this year! As I've noticed, y'all aren't shy with your opinions on this matter. Please let us know your opinions on this year's picks and those technologies you don't think will survive to see 2018. Let's meet back here in a year and see how we did. Peace.

1. GoPro

I LOVE watching GoPro's first-person stunt videos! They're super cool. BUT, unfortunately for GoPro, the company may have overestimated the number of vlogging surfers and Russian teen exhibitionists with death wishes out there.

Last month, the company was forced to shed 15 percent of its workforce—around 200 full-time positions. In theory, these are the type of moves a company might make before they restructure, but the question remains if the few people who already purchased a GoPro in order to capture first-person footage of them jumping across roofs like a ninja might be persuaded to spend money to update to a new wearable camera in the near future.

Its Karma drone, meanwhile, was recently recalled, which is never a good thing in the all-important holiday fourth quarter.

2. Android Wear

Android Wear? More like Android Where, amirite? Android Wear was supposed to be Android's inroad into that once-upon-a-super-hot-tech-trend: Wearables. But as far as I can tell, the only form factor that ever took up the Call of the Wear was smartwatches. And those smartwatches are largely bleh or meh.

Regardless, the tech industry seems to have greatly overestimated the market for smartwatches (Apple included). In the past year, the Microsoft Band and the Pebble brand met their demise (though neither ran Android Wear), and at least one major Android smartwatch manufacturer publicly bowed out of the market. I suppose Google could continue pouring time and resources into this fading OS. But why?

Tick, tock Android Wear. (And while I don't think 2017 will be their final year, smartwatches in general might be on their last legs.)

3. Windows Phones

I'll be honest, I don't know if I've ever seen a Windows Phone being used by someone who wasn't 1) a Microsoft employee or 2) a character on a TV show.

It's not that Windows Phones are necessarily bad; developers just never truly embraced the ecosystem, so the apps weren't there. That's because Redmond came in a little late to the mobile game after Android and iOS had already cemented their territory. Even as Microsoft responded to this app deficit by allowing Windows PC apps to run across all form factors, Windows Phone still can only claim a minuscule share of the mobile market.

There were barely any notable Windows Phone releases this year and Microsoft hardly mentioned them at its marquee events. This lack of new phone hardware is particularly notable because Microsoft has actually been killing it on the hardware front recently (and has some very cool stuff on the horizon).

Regardless if it officially croaks at some point in the next 12 months, I feel confident in saying that that Windows Phones are not a main fixture of Microsoft's future plans.

4. Twitter, Inc.

Okay, admittedly, this pick is a long shot, but it's not that long of a shot. Twitter is a super popular social platform—it's one that I utilize most often for sharing important ideas. It's great! Even the President-Elect is a big fan (though he declined to invite CEO Jack Dorsey to his recent "tech summit.")

But here's the thing—as popular and influential as Twitter is, it has never found a way to convert all that popularity into profitability. Throw on top of that Twitter's notable troll problems and the future looks less than promising. Earlier this year, the company publicly courted potential buyers, but nobody wanted to bite. That's not good.

So, if its business plan isn't working and no larger company thinks it could turn things around, the question remains: What's next? No one seems to know. Sad!

5. The Galaxy Note Brand

Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 was hands down the HOTTEST phone of the year. (Heh.) The thing just couldn't stop catching on fire—even the replacements blew up! So much fire!

The Note line was never as popular as its daintier Galaxy S siblings (which we should reiterate do not have an explosion problem), but it had a dedicated user base all the same. We actually really liked the Note 7 in our initial review, as did most review sites. But the prospect of an exploding phone and all the accompanying travel bans have probably irrevocably damage the "Note" brand (not to mention, costing Samsung billions).

Of course, the Note has been a popular product line over the past decade. So, perhaps Samsung isn't done releasing big phones with a stylus input, but they might be done calling them "Notes." We'll see what Samsung has in store next year.

6. The Barnes & Noble Nook

The Barnes & Noble Nook is still a thing? As it turns out, yep! It's only $50 and has similar specs to the Amazon Fire tablet ($49.99 at Amazon) .

B&N might surprise us and do alright this holiday season—but that's unlikely with the mighty Amazon marketing machine backing the Nook's closest competition. I could be misguided, but I'm not hopeful of the Nook's future.

Let's be honest, your time is probably running out, Nook. And while I'm at it, time is also running out for Barnes & Noble. Don't worry, Amazon will pick up the slack there, too.

7. YouTube Red

Hey, did you see some of that great original content on YouTube Red? "What on Earth is YouTube Red," you ask? "Exactly," answers the frigid hand of impending brand death.

Red allows users to skip the ads on YouTube videos for only $10/month. The service also offers users exclusive video content from noted YouTube stars. Sounds kinda cool, but it's only been able to snatch up a comparatively paltry 1.5 million users around the world (to be fair, it's not available globally yet). YouTube swears it's totally invested in the service, but things don't look good. I could be wrong, of course. I'm no fancy Silicon Valley big wig who knows all the answers. But please name one digital service—ONE!—which was previously free and then successfully added a pay tier.

8. Google Cardboard

I am on the record as being a fan of Google's pizza-box VR tech. Moving forward, it has two big things going for it: 1) a super low entry point—most pre-made models are only around $15, and 2) they work with just about any smartphone (iPhone included). But now, Google's far beefier VR system, Daydream View ($89.00 at Amazon) is here. So, where does that leave Cardboard?

Unlike Cardboard, the Daydream experience is delivered via a stylish, but comparatively expensive accessory (around $80) and it only works with Google's latest Pixel phones. So, I suppose there is still a market for Cardboard—but probably more as a kids toy or throw-away promotional tchotchke. There might be a chance Cardboard survives the year, but I can't foresee Google investing additional resources into developing it any further.

9. Marissa Mayer's Tenure as CEO

No one can say that former Google exec Marissa Mayer hasn't made a genuine attempt to turn the fortunes of this lumbering Web 1.0 behemoth around, but the impending Verizon acquisition will probably spell the end of these efforts.

Perhaps you've noticed that I've placed some emphasis on the world "impending." That's because it's not official yet. In the face of a gigantic Yahoo data breach—one of the largest in history (and which followed another massive hack earlier this year)—Verizon may have reason to get cold feet. I'm not saying the deal will fall apart, but it's certainly been left in an uncomfortable place.

For her part, Mayer has vowed to stick around, but no matter which way the Verizon deal lands, are there any decision makers who would want her to?

10. Internet Explorer

Microsoft's Edge browser now comes standard with Windows 10, but it's not alone. New Windows machines still come standard with the miraculously still-maintained Internet Explorer browser (IE version 11.0.37 was released in November). Seems like kind of a waste, no?

The only reason I can see that IE is kept alive is to service older platforms built around IE (the back-end we use at PCMag, for example, still has some functions that require IE). If this isn't the year that IE officially dies, I can only assume that it will be the year that Microsoft announces the impending death date so as to give various IT departments a chance to upgrade. Will anyone mourn the loss of this one?

11. Elon Musk

I need to reiterate that I truly hope this pick doesn't come true. Last year, I included Elon on the list because he was doing weird dumb rich-guy stuff like attempting to walk on the outside of a plane while it was still in flight. This year, I'm including him because he just does too much.

Musk is the head honcho at SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, but has also just signed up to be an advisor to Trump's tech team and apparently wants to start a tunnel-building company now. Too much, Mr. Musk. Take some time to take care of Elon.