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All in all, we've probably done quite well -- albeit we could almost certainly have done a lot better.

Broadband prices are down and penetration is up, which is very good news.

The downside is the way that Telecom, with the aide of *your* tax dollars and the passive support of government, has screwed virtually its competition in the DSL marketplace.

Wireless has largely been a non-event with companies such as Woosh hardly sweeping the market with the speed, reliability and coverage of their offerings. that might have otherwise given Telecom a run for its money.

Now have your say Got something to say about today's column, or want to see what others think?  Visit The Forums While you're here, why not visit the Aardvark Hall of Shame and perhaps make your own nomination.

Our politicians still seem unable to get to grips with much-needed anti-spam legislation, something that leaves us very much the odd-man-out when compared to our online peers.

Our mobile phone and data prices are still much higher than those of our trading partners and this doesn't look like changing any time soon (hooray for oligopolies eh?)

The past 12 months has seen a hike in the number of online music download services available around the world -- although there's still somewhat of a dearth here in NZ.

Likewise, unlike the USA and UK, we don't have a Tivo-like service -- even though Sky TV have been promising such a think for *years* now. Can you say "vapourware"?

Come to think of it -- for a country that prides itself as being filled with early-adopters and lead by a government supposedly hot on promoting a knowledge economy, we do seem to be an awfully long way behind the eight-ball this year.

The good thing, from an industry perspective, is that the internet is now truly ubiquitous, most homes having at least dial-up access. This means the opportunities for anyone who's looking to launch an online venture have never been greater.

Of course, kiwis being kiwis, anyone planning to launch such a new idea will likely find it impossible to raise venture capital -- but fortunately the cost of doing so can be kept very low if you try hard.

This year has been the "year of the blog" but the only problem with that is that there's just too much stuff to read every day. Perhaps readers can suggest a few of the better Kiwi blogs that they might like to share with others. If so, drop a note in the Aardvark forums.

Right now I'm working on the annual Aardvark predictions column due for publication on New Year's Eve. If you've got a prediction you'd like included then drop me a line and I'll pick the best three or four to include (with attribution of course) alongside my own.

I'm not planning to run an Aardvark Awards this year -- mainly because I think the days when we had truly stand-out websites has gone. Pretty much every site on the local web these days is a thousand times better than those we had to put up with a decade ago when Aardvark was first published.

Where is the IRD?
I see that the trade in virtual-goods is increasing. A virtual-island was recently sold for a healthy virtual price and I suspect we'll see more of this kind of thing going on as increasing numbers of people get involved in online gaming.

Fingers out folks
Come on, I'm still waiting for the deluge of suggestions for the Christmas Eve "Lighten Up" extravaganza. Get your suggestions in now!

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