It's been an interesting year for techies because, for the most part, the most compelling stories about technology weren't about new gadgets or toys, but rather how technology has altered the way we live.
It was the year we were wired in and connected to each other like never before.
At least that's what most technology writers seemed to agree upon when I perused my favourite geek columns while researching a "year end" article for this slot.
To be honest, it's hard to think coherently when you're nursing a hangover from the 12 Days of Eggnog Bingeing and you're so fa-la-la-la-full of turkey and chocolate that even breathing seems strenuous.
But it's true.
Although things like Facebook and Twitter didn't debut in 2009, social media had a huge impact in the past year.
Everyone from famous celebrities and ambitious politicians to the dude you sit next to and even this very newspaper began "Tweeting" on Twitter about anything and everything.
By subscribing to someone's Tweets, you could find out what they were thinking or doing at certain moments with scintillating posts like "I like cheese" or "I'm eating cheese."
How worshippers of the cult of celebrity and cheese fanciers got along before Twitter is unimaginable.
Twitter was also the communication tool used by dissidents and protestors in Iran. Well, except when Michael Jackson died and they couldn't because everyone else was writing "RIP Michael" in what has surely become the longest goodbye to a celebrity in history.
This past year Barack Obama became the first African-American President of the United States, thanks in part to his savvy use of Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.
He clued in early that those tools could be used to reach people and deliver his message in a way television commercials and print ads just couldn't accomplish.
Now politicians from all over have Youtube channels and Twitter feeds so they can disseminate information or propaganda more easily to the masses.
Where once we went to the Internet to find information, now we're using it as a place to share our thoughts, pictures, moods, plans and ambitions.
And the coming year seems to be aiming to continue that trend, with newer smart phones coming on the market giving us easier and faster access to the Web from anywhere.
Even carmakers have clued into our wired ways, and are now announcing 2010 models that come equipped with on-board Wi-Fi.
That's right. While you drive home from work, others in your vehicle will be able to surf the net on their laptops, check their email or text the family that they're almost home.
Although several automakers already offer in-car Internet, and the Japanese have been using the tech for years, it's only now that we'll see it in the mainstream thanks to our increasing integration of the Web into the fabric of our daily lives.
So although 2009 was more about how we have integrated online life into our real time worlds, rather than tech innovations - 2010 looks to be about innovating tech ways to get us online from anywhere in the world. I guess I'll be seeing you online.
Happy New Year.
