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Welcome to the first Monday of the New Year, everyone...we're bright shiny and new this morning and we're hoping you are too, because there are some questions we need to pose to 2010 (or oh-ten, as some of are friends are calling it...) and we'd love to hear what you think as well. What does the first year of the new decade hold? Here's what we're wondering:

Will Apple's Absence Kill MacWorld?
Ok, so maybe this doesn't seem to be an important question, but we've got something for you to think about: CES (the Consumer Electronics Show, set to kick off this Thursday in Las Vegas) is an expo show devoted to technology. MacWorld (moved this year to February 9th-13th in San Francisco) is a much smaller expo show devoted to US--the macheads, fanboys, fangirls and total nerds who think Apple is one of the best companies under the sun.

On the surface we understand Apple's claim that the smaller number of attendees at the MacWorld show--especially when contrasted with the number of people swarming to their retail stores every day--doesn't exactly warrant the need for a presence. But gosh, how does that saying go? "Remember the little people?"

This year, MacWorld is probably safe. But will Apple's untimely departure spell the end of the one place in the country that the Mac-centrics could go to blissfully geek out and enjoy the company's legacy? We'll see...because we'll be there! (And have booth babes to rival the biggest car stereo booth at CES. Swear.)

Will Prices Come Down?
From games to cell phones to gizmos and gadgets, 2009 was a year of paying through the nose for cool stuff--what recession? Whether it's changes in infrastructure, "tiered data plans," or a new episodic model for gaming, we hope 2010 holds a year of really cool stuff that doesn't cost as much as last year's really cool stuff. (Heads up? We'll still pay through the nose for an Apple tablet. Our dedication is practically endless.)

The times are certainly changing, but some things remain immutable, and the desire for dirt cheap and free stuff definitely belongs to the latter category. A lot of "free" talk was bandied about in the second half of 2009 and from Kindle users (who overwhelmingly choose $0.00 books) to internet content, here's our public finger crossing hope that companies find ways to ease the financial burden of loving technology.

Can't WE Be Held Responsible?
We think it's time for people to be held accountable for their own decisions. Please, 2010, give us more of that and less of lawsuits like the one just upheld in Apple's favor...where the company was sued for iPod user's potential hearing loss. If you listen to your music loudly, you're probably already feeling the effects and we'll be darned if you can yell at Apple for giving you volume controls that go past 115 decibles.

If people who can figure out the deepest intricacies of Twitter, Facebook, the iPhone, or whatever are consistenly allowed to place blame on the companies that sold them products instead of accepting the consequences of their improper use can't google "hearing loss" and make an informed decision, we're toast.

Of course there are other questions, like "will the morning of January 26th change lives?"...let us know what you think the year holds on Twitter!

Till tomorrow, Newsies...