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Actually, the question was: what are the latest technology trends? But whenever I was asked that question I framed it without focusing on me. It's kind of pointless for me to say with the latest technology trends are. First, I'm not the best person to make technology forecasts. Second, whatever the forecast is today it will probably be radically different in a very short period of time.

The way I figure out what's going on is this: I listen regularly to the podcasts put out by Leo Laporte. I asked the group yesterday if any of them had heard of Leo Laporte and no one had. Interestingly, many people whom I considered to be fairly knowledgeable about technology have also not heard of him. 

I find this rather strange.

Almost everything I've learned about technology has come from listening to Leo Laporte (or, previously, watching him on TechTV -- which unfortunately was canceled a few years ago). Most of the important decisions I have made about technology have also been based on observations made by Leo Laporte or the panelists on his podcasts. For example, my decision to switch to a Mac computer several years ago was largely shaped by information I gathered from Laporte.

What I like most about Laporte is that he's not partisan to one operating system or another. He uses Windows computers, Macs, and Linux machines. He has extensive knowledge of both hardware and software in all these operating systems. More importantly, for the average user, he's easy to understand.

The reason is that he's been a radio DJ for over 20 years (strictly covering technology).  He has worked in television briefly (when he worked for Tech TV). Bottom line: he knows how to explain things that are complicated, and he makes it easy to understand?even if you don't know much about technology.

If you're a Mac user you should listen to a couple of these podcasts, and subscribe to them so that you receive them every week. If you're a Mac or PC user you should subscribe to The Tech Guy podcast, which is based on a radio call-in show that he does once a week in San Francisco (actually he lives near SF, but you get the point: it originates from the tech-capital of the U.S.)

I can't emphasize enough how useful these podcasts are. If you are a legal administrator for a law firm then, by definition, you have to understand the fundamental aspects of technology. But, really, everyone needs to keep up with technology these days. The most useful way of keeping up is Leo Laporte.

Laporte doesn't always know the answers, and when he doesn't he says so (and avoids useless speculation).  However, when he and his panelists agree that something is important or inevitable then you can pretty much bank on it.  Finding consensus (i.e. unbiased and informed assessments) about important technology trends is hard.  

But not if you regularly listen to Leo Laporte. 

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