Happy New Year from Darcy and TC

Happy New Year from Darcy and TC

Every year at this time, we reflect upon the year that is drawing to a close and look ahead to the new year to come. It’s a time of reflection and a time of hope. It’s a time of renewal as well as change. It’s a beginning and an end. Not one of us knows what the new year will bring – yet we all step into the new year with hope.

So first, we want you to know how thankful we are for your support and your friendship. When we look back on the year that’s nearing its end, we want you to know that we are constantly aware that without your continued support and friendship, we’d not be able to keep our small company going. So, we want you to know how very thankful we are for all of you!

Some of us look back at the year’s end with good memories and happy memories, and others look back upon bad memories and sad memories. But I think most of us look back upon the year that’s drawing to a close with a little bit of each of those.

And it’s natural too, to look ahead with hope and, of course, a little trepidation – since none of us can know what the new year will bring. The new year will no doubt present opportunities and challenges and victories as well as defeats. Whatever will be will be, and the new year will bring what it will. But we choose to look forward to the new year with great hope and with great resolve to continue to do our best for you in the new year. We vow to continue to deserve your friendship and your support.

In 2024, we begin our 26th year with the little company we call “Cloudeight”. A company that we started as a dream back in 1998. And we look back with mixed memories at the year that is now coming to an end.

The Internet is a very different place now than it was in 1998. Twenty-six years in computer terms is like a century in the non-internet world. And so we all struggle to keep up with the changes that at coming 1t us from all directions at such a fast and amazing pace.

Now, many expect things to be easy and instant. In-depth articles, based on fact, have been replaced with glitzy headlines created to induce clicks to short articles of dubious substance, written more to “go viral” than to teach and encourage exploration. Many articles are now being written entirely by AI or using AI assistance. Too bad that AI has no heart – and no soul.

The old generation of Internet users has virtually been replaced by a new generation of Internet users who live in a disposable instant world of quick and easy and the incredibly insubstantial and dubious world of social media.

The world is a different place now than it was in 1998. Far more people access the Internet with phones and tablets than with PCs. When we started, 99% of those who accessed the Internet, did so with a Windows PC. Now, Windows users share the Internet with Android and Apple users. Windows no longer dominates. Android is now the most popular operating system, though it’s mainly used on smartphones and tablets.

We’ve survived all the changes and we’re still standing. And though we’ve had to adapt to the rapidly changing internet and technological landscape, our core values have never changed: Honesty, loyalty, and treating people the way we want to be treated ourselves. When someone needs help, we never forget where we came from – we never forget the days when we were starting out and needed help.

Without your support, help, and friendship we would have long since joined those Web sites and companies who, like us, were born in the early days of the Internet, but who could not survive in the ever-changing Internet landscape. Mom-and-pop sites have almost disappeared. And that’s a shame. When big money and big corporate interests take over, people no longer are people – they’re dollar signs.

But not to us. We are keenly aware that our survival and our success depend on you. It depends on giving you, our friends, the help you want, the answers you need, and being there when you need us whether we make a dollar or not.

Most of you are Windows users, but more and more of you are using Android & Apple tablets and phones to access the Internet. We will continue focusing on Windows, But we hope to add some tips and tricks for Android users in 2024 while continuing to focus on the ever-changing world of Windows.

And we believe that 2024 will continue to bring big changes to Windows. As of now, Windows 10 is still being used by far more people than Windows 11. And Windows 10 still has over 18 months of “life” left. The number of Windows 11 users will continue to grow. And all the while, in the background Microsoft is working on Windows 12. We will continue to write tips for Windows 10 as well as Windows 11. We have updated most of our Windows 10 tips for Windows 11. In the new year, we will be committed to providing support and help for both Windows 10 and Windows 11 users.

The Internet continues to embrace the world of the instant and the superficial. It’s full of free disposable apps – useful and useless. It’s a world of instant communication and instant relationships. A world where paragraphs and cogent writing have been replaced by short “tweets” that are easy and quick to read and click-bait headlines designed to scare you or sell you. And let’s not forget the 16-year-old “Influencers” who – thanks to TikTok – are making hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars a year influencing viewers.

The use of AI will continue to grow. And it will become increasingly more difficult to tell real from fake and fiction from fact. The use of deep fake pictures and videos will continue to grow. Books, articles, essays, news reports, blogs, and other content will be increasingly created or greatly assisted by AI. And as AI becomes more pervasive, the importance of the human heart and soul will be diminished. Thus we all will be diminished. Is this the brave new world we want? Or is this the brave new world that is being forced upon us?

We are old-fashioned. Our mission is and always has been to try and give you what you want. But we will never sell you out. We still strive to tell you the truth and warn you of the dangers both new and old that you face every day on the Internet. But, we promise to try to keep you safe without scaring you — without clickbait or yellow journalism. We will never use fear to induce you into clicking headlines the way that far too many others do. We’ll focus on Windows tips and tricks that will make you a better, smarter, and safer Windows user. We will keep you updated about the influence of AI without becoming slaves to it. Our hearts and souls will always be part of Cloudeight.

The era of AI is here whether we like it or not. And though the Internet is vastly different than it was when we started, we will remain committed to providing you with information, products, and services you can trust and believe in.

We promise we will continue to provide valuable, trustworthy information and never resort to empty, catchy, sensationalistic AI-generated headlines written to get you to click. We believe that if we continue to be a steady, reliable, source of information, products, and services that you can believe in and trust, you will continue to honor us with your friendship and your support and we will survive in the new year.

Thank you everyone!

Thank you very much for making it possible for our little business to beat the odds and survive. We hope that in the coming year, we can continue to earn your trust and friendship as we have tried so hard to do in all the years that have come before.

May the new year bring you and those you love happiness and good health. And may all your dreams come true in 2024.

Thank you so much for your continued friendship and support.

Happy New Year!

TC & Darcy
Cloudeight