New Year’s resolutions for the fanboy, gadget addict and troll in all of us

Losing weight, quitting smoking and getting out of debt all make fine intentions, but that tired old list we trot every year could use some updates. If you’re anything like the rest of us who spend hours glued to smartphones, grooming our Twitter feeds and getting into virtual shouting matches on Reddit, you could probably use a few tech resolutions for 2013. Fortunately, I have a few suggestions.

Stop being such a fanboy

Based on my needs and wants, I have chosen to use Apple products. You, on the other hand, might have chosen Android. Believe it or not, that doesn’t make either one of us mentally deficient. As fragmented as our corporate technology space is, our personal technology space can and does coexist. The legal battles between our two sides are not games of Fantasy Litigation, and the outcomes of which really will not affect us. Our phones and tablets can accomplish 99.9 percent of the same tasks. I’ll even concede that I wish my wife could beam me dirty videos just by touching our phones together. Heck, I just wish she’d make dirty videos.

Hold companies responsible

I’ve written quite a bit in recent weeks about Apple’s manufacturing processes. Even though I wave an Apple flag, I think it’s important to hold the company accountable for working conditions that most people would find unacceptable in the 21st century. To its credit, Apple has been taking steps to rectify the situation abroad and will even begin making more hardware in the US next year. Let’s resolve give all companies the same fierce scrutiny in 2013.

Stop buying lame products

If any company makes a substandard product that does not advance the cause of technology innovation, we should resolve not to buy based on brand allegiance and fear of trying something new. The only way to spur the innovation that we all desire in the technology space is to reward the companies that innovate and punish the ones that seem to be standing pat. People have consistently remarked this year that it is simply a boring time, particularly in the mobile phone market. There’s only one way to solve that issue: Stop making it profitable for companies to sit still.

Give BlackBerry 10 a shot

The world seems to have passed BlackBerry by. Its stock is crumbling along with its once-tight grip on the mobile market. The BlackBerry 10 operating system, due next year, is a Hail Mary pass. We owe it to one of the mobile space’s greatest pioneers – and ourselves – to treat this new offering with an open mind. There might be room in the market for another ecosystem. However, per the previous resolution, if BB10 sucks we should also vociferously start pounding nails in BlackBerry’s coffin.

Remain firm in the cause of net neutrality

The Internet, in the form of common users, declared independence in 2012. We stood up to the media-sponsored government takeovers like SOPA and PIPA and voiced our objection to the UN ITU treaty. It’s foolish to think that special interests will not continue to try and claim one of our greatest international assets for their own personal gain. They have a lot of money (and politicians) in their pockets, but this year showed that when it comes to the Internet, the common person still has a voice. Stay strong in 2013.

Finally, stop retweeting and start real-tweeting

If you unplug occasionally and go out to experience this beautiful (until the icebergs melt and we’re all swimming) world, you’ll have more original experiences to share on your networks, rather than just forwarding the latest Facebook privacy hoax or some lame meme. Instead, you can realtweet (yes, I’m coining that term). Then, if you’re lucky, people not nearly as smart as you will retweet cool things you actually got to do in real life. Seriously, if you have to take a tech-free day, do it. If you have to play the phone stacking game during dinner, do it. If we become slaves to our machines, there is no John Connor or Neo coming to save us.