the Best & Worst in Technology

A Word from the Host Welcome! Thank you for downloading the results of the first annual Golden Paw Awards, sponsored by SmartBear, where we reveal the year’s best and worst in software quality. Software professionals from around the world voted for the favorites and failures of 2012. If you were one of the hundreds of participants, thank you for voting! If, like me, you believe that quality of software is indicative of quality of life, then I think you’ll enjoy these awards. May we applaud those who exceeded expectations and learn from those who did not. Warmest regards, Eugene T. Bear

Award Categories “Best Thing Since Sliced Bread” Award Most Overrated Product  

“Spork” Award Most Underrated

Product  

“Luke, I am your Father” Award Most Impactful News Event  

“Titanic” Award Most Epic Tech Fail

  “Great Pyramid – How in the Blazes Did They Do

it?!” Award Biggest Tech Success

“Up-Up-Down-Down-Left- Right-Left-Right-B-A” Award Game-Changer of the Year

“Hulk Smash” Award Breakthrough of the Year  

Most  Impac+ul  News  Event  

“Luke, I Am Your Father” Award

Every  once  in  a  while,  there's  a  defining  moment  that  alters  the  world  we  live  in  forever.  Out  with  the  old,  in  with  the  new  -­‐  we  can  look  back  on  2012  as  the  turning  point  in  some  respects.    

4th 3rd 2nd

And the Golden Paw goes to….

PLACE  

PLACE  

PLACE  

YouTube’s Coverage of the Space Jump Daredevil Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier with a jump 24 miles above the earth and YouTube flexed their load capacity muscles with a record-breaking 8 million live viewers of the event.

Facebook Buys Instagram

Just before filing for an IPO, Facebook purchased the photo filter sharing company for $1 billion.

Facebook Files IPO

Facebook’s first day of trading closed at $38.23 and, despite technical glitches and controversy, raised about $16 billion, making it the third largest IPO in U.S. history.

When Samsung won the initial patent lawsuit against Apple, every Android lover in the world breathed, “Finally!” For some, the Samsung victory marked a huge step toward the decline of the Apple Empire. Last summer, Apple sued Samsung for $2.5 billion, accusing Samsung of copying the design of the iPhone and iPad. Samsung denied any wrongdoing and counter-sued Apple for $519 million, also for patent infringement.

The Empire Strikes Back…and gets counter-sued for $508 million

APPLE vs SAMSUNG The “Luke, I am Your Father” Award for Most Impactful Event

Biggest  Tech  Success  

“Great Pyramid – How in the Blazes Did They Do It?” Award

Some  products  blew  us  away  in  2012  -­‐  this  is  for  them.  

YouTube’s Coverage of the Space Jump Daredevil Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier with a jump 24 miles above the earth and YouTube flexed their load capacity muscles with a record-breaking 8 million live viewers of the event.

Kickstarter

Kickstarter fundraisers broke the record three times over in 2012 for most money raised, with Pebble E-Paper Watch eventually becoming the most funded project in Kickstarter history with $10,266,845.

Cell Phone Networks Hurricane Resilience

As the largest Atlantic hurricane on record tore through the Northeast, cell service was relatively available during and after Hurricane Sandy – so much so that people we able to text for help in non-emergencies rather than use 911.

And the Golden Paw goes to…

4th 3rd 2nd

PLACE  

PLACE  

PLACE  

The first license for a self-driven car was issued in May 2012 for a Toyota Prius and was later accompanied by about nine more vehicles. The vehicles operated with amazing precision, completing over 300,000 miles without an accident. As of September, Nevada, Florida, and California had passed laws permitting driverless cars on public roadways.

Extraterrestrial help? We think so.

GOOGLE DRIVERLESS CARS The “Great Pyramid – How in the Blazes did They Do It?” Award for Biggest Tech Success Story

Most  Epic  Tech  Flop  

“Titanic” Award

You  can't  always  see  the  iceberg  ahead.  This  award  goes  to  the  products  that  set  sail  with  high  expectaJons  but  crashed  and  burned  in  the  real  world.  

Nokia Lumia 900 Despite being awarded the “Best Smartphone” by CES in January 2012, the Lumia 900 was criticized for the usability of the Windows operating system and poor screen resolution.

Windows 8

After three years, the new Windows operating system was the hot topic of 2012, but many people were disappointed with the unintuitive user interface and “walled garden” app distribution model.

Facebook

Between the eventual decline of Facebook’s stock, the technical glitches on opening day, and the continuing outrage over user privacy, Facebook just doesn’t seem cool anymore.

4th 3rd 2nd

And the Golden Paw goes to…

PLACE  

PLACE  

PLACE  

This was such a landslide of a win (or loss) it almost needs no explanation. After severing a relationship with Google, Apple released their own version of a Maps application on the iOS 6 update. The geographic inaccuracies and lack of features were so conspicuous that Apple’s CEO Tim Cook wrote an apology for the release, fired the executive in charge of the software, and made Google Maps available on the iPhone app store two months later.

“ICEBERG AHEAD! Oh, wait… that’s Sacramento.”

APPLE iOS MAPS The “Titanic” Award for Most Epic Tech Flop

Most  Underrated  Product  

“Spork” Award

This  honor  goes  to  the  product,  team  or  company  that  slipped  under  our  radar  this  year.  In  the  shadow  of  the  giant  releases  and  big  names  that  swamped  the  blogosphere,  the  winner  of  the  Spork  award  deserves  a  nod.    

4th 3rd 2nd

And the Golden Paw goes to…

PLACE  

PLACE  

PLACE  

Cubify Cube 3D Printer There’s no doubt that this is a high-tech product that may have gone unnoticed in 2012, allowing users to create 3-D objects from recyclable PLA and ABS plastics.

Windows 8

Clearly this release received mixed reviews, with advocates applauding the improved performance and dual functionality with tablets and PCs.

Microsoft Surface Competing directly with the iPad, the Microsoft Surface received rave reviews for design and usability that is often unbecoming of Microsoft products.

Mark this down as the first time since 2005 that Google has avoided the spotlight in any capacity. The Chromebook runs only Web-based applications and became known for its comparatively low cost. The biggest praise for Google’s hardware, however, was in its surprisingly fast startup time.

Sporks. Think about it. Why aren’t these things more popular?!

GOOGLE CHROMEBOOK  The “Spork” Award for Most Underrated Product

Most  Overrated  Product  

“Best Thing Since Sliced Bread” Award

This  is  the  eye-­‐rolling,  exasperated  sigh  inducing,  "please  stop  talking  about  it,  let's  move  on"  award  for  the  undeserving  buzz  generator.  Yes,  we're  talking  about  it  again.  But  we  swear,  this  is  the  last  Jme.  

4th 3rd 2nd

And the Golden Paw goes to…

PLACE  

PLACE  

PLACE  

Google Chromebook ChromeBook  haters  are  disappointed  that  it  won  the  “Spork”  award  aQer  ciJng  its  lack  of  storage  space  and  RAM  capacity.    

Microsoft Surface

PosiJoned  in  direct  compeJJon  with  the  iPad  3,  many  were  unimpressed  with  the  Surface’s  keyboard  usability  and  frustrated  with  the  UI  given  how  much  MicrosoQ  invested  into  the  product.    

Windows 8

AQer  three  years,  the  new  Windows  operaJng  system  was  the  hot  topic  of  2012,  but  many  people  were  disappointed  with  the  unintuiJve  user  interface  and  “walled  garden”  app  distribuJon  model.      

Every time Apple makes a move, the world holds its breath. To be fair, it’s difficult to not be overrated when everything you do is hyped to the extreme. With people waiting in line for days and analysts debating the features of the iPhone 48 already, this release was almost guaranteed to be underwhelming. No pancake flipper? No mute button for my kids? What a rip off!

“We put the headphones on the bottom – what more do you want from us?”

iPHONE 5 The “Best Thing Since Sliced Bread” Award for Most Overrated Product

Breakthrough  Technology  of  the  Year    

“Hulk Smash” Award

The  new  kid  on  the  block.  This  award  is  for  the  one  that  broke  out  in  2012  and  impressed  us  with  their  new  moves.    

Big Data 2012 saw a significant increase in the limits on the size of data sets that are feasible to process in a reasonable amount of time, which is especially surprising given that about 2.5 quintillion (2.5×1018) bytes of data are created every day.

HTML5

This attempt at a single markup language for the various specifications of the Word Wide Web, especially in the mobile space, is changing the way testers and developers write and run applications.

3D Printing

This is like bringing CIA technologies into your living room, making it possible to create actual objects from a digital model.

4th 3rd 2nd

And the Golden Paw goes to…

PLACE  

PLACE  

PLACE  

Excuse the overused metaphor, but software and hardware is so much lighter now that cloud computing has become so widely used. We are more agile, more reactive and more efficient in software deployment. According to a Gartner study, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) revenue totaled $12.3 billion in 2011 and was expected to rise to $14.5 billion last year. This new model, promoting shared space and fair usage, is really changing the way we work in the software world.

Ironically, just about the only thing Hulk can’t smash is a cloud.

CLOUD SERVICES The “Hulk Smash” Award for Breakthrough of the Year

Biggest  Game-­‐Changer  

“Up-Up-Down-Down-Left- Right-Left-Right-B-A” Award

Every  once  in  a  while,  there's  an  idea,  a  company,  or  a  product  that  sets  a  new  standard  in  the  industry.  The  winner  of  the  game  changer  award  is  deserving  because  they  forever  altered  the  technology  world  in  2012.  

Amazon In 2012, Amazon launched a “green” products line, Amazon Game Studios, online storage services, and grew its customer base to around 30 million people.

Dropbox

This cloud-based file hosting service reached over 100 million users, integrated with Facebook Groups, and launched automatic upload in 2012.

Microsoft With the release of Windows 8 OS, the Surface tablet, and a series of smartphones, 2012 was no doubt a breakout year for Bill Gates and company.

4th 3rd 2nd

And the Golden Paw goes to…

PLACE  

PLACE  

PLACE  

What’s the cheat for billion-dollar success?

GOOGLE The “Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A” Award for Biggest Game-Changer

Between the legalization of driverless cars, the vastly underrated Chromebook computer, and a smirking “we-told-you-so” to Apple Maps, 2012 was a defining year for Google. In May, Chrome surpassed Internet Explorer as the most used Web browser with just over 33% market share. Google+, although some would argue is a bit of a ghost town, reached over 500 million registered users in December. It ain't easy being one of the most powerful companies in the world. It comes with ridiculously high expectations and oftentimes more chance to fail than to succeed, but somehow Google managed to deliver on expectations with confidence and flying colors.

CongratulaJons  to  our  winners,  and  for  our  losers  -­‐  beXer  luck  next  year!    Here’s  to  another  year  honoring  soQware  quality.  

Click  Here  to  Watch  the  Awards  Video