9/11 is pretty obvious, can't really argue with that. I'm afraid the Harry Potter books are similar in that regard, despite the horrible writing style Rowling has (I read the first book when it first came out and I was in Middle School and I couldn't stand her style at that point), though I must say she's got a fun imagination.

I have no clue on the song of the decade; however, Barack Obama obviously wins man of the decade, and all other awards simply based on his existence...no contest...or something like that. Plus, it'll look nice next to the Nobel Peace Prize he...won...? Yeah, that's it...

Song of the decade is undoubtably: Hey Ya by Outkast,
Film of the decade: Garden State
Novel of the decade: i dont read much contemporary literature..
Event: hmm Iraq war, 9/11, Darfur, GFC, Olympics in China.

why hasnt someone got woman of the decade.. sexist much

Man of the decade: Simon Cowell ~ I don't like him, but he's been a major influence in the UK.
TV program of the Decade: Big Brother ~ Again I don't like it, don't watch it but it was the first major reality TV program, and reality TV has been a major part of the decade.

How on earth can Obama possibly be considered by anyone as "man of the decade" when he has essentially done nothing. He might be up for consideration *next* decade, but this one? Nonsense.

Song of the Decade: Yellow ~ Coldplay Not a brilliant song, but back at the start of the decade there were soo many bands playing the calm background 'elavator music' and Coldplay are the most successful of those. Saying that there's a club tune that I really wish I could remember the name of that might be more "important".
Woman of the Decade: Well if you're a Daily Express reader it would still have to be Princess Dianna! Being serious though, whilst not trying to be sexist, I can't think of a woman who really stands out. Obviously there have been many important women, but none that jump to mind. Perhaps Aung San Suu Kyi or Benazir Bhutto?

I also think Big Brother is TV program of decade. It s creepy and stupid but it did change the way we understand the meaning of TV.
Obama realy hadnt done anything, but we are talking about people who will be remembered (so actualy it can also be George W. Bush).

The iPhone?

Not sure about iPhone, but probably the iPod. The iPhone itself is, I think, a bit late in the decade to be a true symbol of it.

Whilst I know it was created before, I think the 00s are most famous for the digital age.
What will the 10s be remembered for, who knows. This century I think will see the balance of power shift to China (after the last two centuries were arguably 'lead' by the Americans and the British) and climate change will become more and more of an issue.

Figlesquidge: I wouldn't be so sure about China. I was reading an old issue of National Geographic from... 1970-something, about the rise of Japan. There was a quote in there about how the 21st century would be known as the Japanese Century. I kind of think we'll see China and the US on the same level, with the EU slightly lower.

Man of the year. Certainly Dubya has made a much greater mark than Obama at this point. (by absolute value: Dubya has an enormous negative value while Obama has had a slight positive value)

Keep dreaming guys; China still has a long way to go and many internal problems to solve before it reaches the same level of prosperity and influence as the U.S.

The E.U. is a joke anyways; just look at your newly-elected president. Also, climate change is becoming more and more of a non-issue, as more people realize that "green energy" initiatives are just another form of big business.

And Barack Obama is certainly not man of the decade. If anyone, I would suggest that George W. Bush is man of the decade not because he was great, but because (1) he was essentially the most powerful figure during that time, and (2) because no one on earth DOESN'T have an opinion about him. The fact that he polarized not only the U.S. but also the rest of the world so greatly led to him being the #1 (foreign news) topic in many countries around the world during his reign.

In addition, all of the things we've mentioned -- 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, economic crisis, climate change issues -- all either happened during, because of, or in spite of George Bush's reign, and all of those issues have been largely America-centric.

I personally find this decade to have been rather lacking in all areas except technology.

I'd say the most important thing to come from these last 10 years is the world bank's continuous and substantial growth. The power and influence that comes from this will continue to be felt for years to come. Financial slavery has never been better.

My predictions for the next decade:
- Easier, more universal web 2.0 apps will threaten Microsoft as making apps online becomes easier and easier
- Tablet devices which are powerful enough to do post of your computing
- An artificial human heart which is cheap & practical, which will significantly reduce the impact of heart disease in the first world
- Digital media and bandwidth becoming cheap enough that there's far less need for piracy
- More unmanned/robotic combat vehicles (in terms of quantity and variety)
- A prosperous Iraq (by the end of the next decade when oil production ramps up)
- Small devices will all get power wirelessly, making low voltage transformers obsolete
- Video processing will be far more common, traffic lights that adapt to traffic and communicate with other lights, computers that respond to the part of the screen you're looking at, etc

This was the decade of Oprah.

Oops this decade, did seem odd asking for next decades symbols. This decade I'd say iPod, the useful internet, 9/11, Iraq, the financial crash are the things people will refer to when talking about this decade

I think that the Television will be phased out, and it will jsut be synergized with the computer so you'll be able to watch stuff everything live online. This might be for the 20's though, but who knows.

Also, I have to agree that Obama does not deserve the "man of the decade" title. I'd definitely say that Bush (for better or worse) had a MUCH larger effect of this century. Heck, Obama won't even have been president for one year by the time this century ends.

oops...made same mistake as kestas. haha

nothing against oprah, but oprah = usa but != world
911 will probably even be remembered when they have the millenium shows in the year 2999
911 -> terror, afghanistan, iraq
and of maybe the slow fall of the "american empire" and the slow rise of china (not yet i guess but thats what they will say in 100 years maybe)
and the awareness of oil going to end and climate change

and i guess you shouldnt forget the tsunami

Interesting, I would have thought that the financial crash will actually be linked more with next decade. The Great Depression started in the 20s, that was when the economies collapsed, but it was not until the 30s the the effects really hit. I know the current case doesn't look like it'll be that bad, but I think that more pressing will be how countries deal with it. My earlier China comments are largely based on this: with the US economy insecure at the moment there is real room for a major contender (although I'm not an economist so this could be wrong - we really want Anlari to comment!). I know they [the chinese] have been buying up scrap metal and this could lead to interesting patterns across international markets.
Also, going to the oil comments, don't under estimate Britian. The Faulklands are widely believed to have large oil reserves, so its not just the middle east that will be supplying in the future.

Ursa: I had considered her as a leading woman, but I don't really know of any effect she's had on me or my life as a Brit.

Almost needs two lists - one for liking, and one for influence. I'll go for liking for pop culture, and influence (good or bad) for everything else

Song of the Decade: Set The Fire To The Third Bar - Snow Patrol - hauntingly beautiful, and one of only 2 songs that bring a lump to my throat every time I hear them

Book(s) - The Blade Itself/Before They Are Hanged/Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie. Brilliant - dark, funny, truly surprising

Film - No Country For Old Men. Just fantastic, and virtually no FX.

TV - Doctor Who - RTD has made geekdom cool and mainstream

Event: 9/11 - we will be dealing with all the things that have spun out of that for a long, long time

Gadget - iPod - the brand leader for a technology which has revolutionised an industry

Man - Tony Blair - I really think that things would have turned out differently (not saying better or worse) without him there. I always got the feeling that some of W's impulses were held back a bit by Blair's advice.

Woman - Jade Goody. Or how a nasty, racist bully can become a 'national treasure'.

I dont think gadget of decade is defenatlly the ipod. It is important, but the Wii is another tecnological jump to the new milleniom.

You guys are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bored.

Whay does thinking more boring than watching TV? I think that by calling us bored, you show that you are even more bored.

Men: First of all the man of the decade should not be Barack Obama although he inspired many people he hasn't accomplished anything in his first year in office. He wins a Nobel Peace Prize for nothing (what is the official reason he won?) and is testedd by te Healt Reform biill which so far has gotten nowhere. If he accomplishes anything in 2010's then he can be known for more than being a good public Speaker and being black.
I think that this decade will be marked by George W. as Carter had marked the 1970's.
TV: I think the great shows of this decade will be Greys Anatomy (I disagree but...) and the Office
Event: 9/11 and the middle east will be the mosrt present in people's mind after this decade is long gone
Politcal Powers:
1 Russia under the ever present Putin. The fact that Putin remians in control of Russia is big I don't think this issue has been touched lately but in fact Putin controls Medvedev and thuscontrols Gazprom and thus Europe. I think that this will be remembered for its impact on future decades
2 Iran Ahmadinijad, agian just a bomb waiting to explode

Gadget is definately iPod it has influenced people outside of Geeky Asian kids, unlike the Wii

As I am only in midle school, I dont remmber the first years of the decade very well and I may have a wrong point of view.

Song of decade: I have no clue, don't listen to popular music lol...
Book of decade: The Harry Potter series (I have to agree... most read and memorable if nothing else)
Man of decade: Good guy- I don't know... Bad Guy- Bin Laden Most Important: Bush II
Event of decade: 9/11 easy... others up there include that tsunami, the Madrid bombings, various stages of the Iraq War (first strikes, capturing Saddam, the insurgency, etc.) and Hurricane Katrina...
Teams of the Decade: Baseball- Tie between Red Sox and Yankees, NFL- Patriots, NBA- Lakers NHL- I have no idea... it's been a dispersed decade... Red Wings, Penguins, Sharks, Ducks...
Player of the Decade: Tiger Woods (new controversy notwithstanding) with Lance, Beckham, Jeter, Kobe, Manning and Brady all up there
Movie of the Decade: Hmmm... help me out here, guys... I say Return of the King and The Dark Knight are up there in a VERY action-filled decade
Movie Character of the Decade: Jack Sparrow EASILY stads out as the most memorable, with the Joker a close second (Sparrow gets the nod due to more time in the decade and more movies)

Woman of the Decade: Tie between Hillary and Oprah (Palin came along too late; for all of her love-or-hate-her, and I'm the latter, she gets an honorable mention
Device of the Decade: iPod; others like the PS2, Wii, DVD and Blu-ray rank, but nothing's quite as iconic as the iPod
TV Character of the Decade: Comedy- Stewie Griffin (I HATE Family Guy thanks to Peter, but Stewie and Brian alone I like... and Stewie's... Stewie this decade) Drama- Many ways to go, but I choose Dr. Gregory House from "House"

The end of the decade is still more than a year away. 2010 will be the last year of this century's first decade.

There's a point indeed. And why is it so important to remember a decade? What do you guys still know of 1900-1910? Jugendstil and the Fin de Siècle feeling? A naval battle in 1904 where Japan succeeded in defeating Russia? (first non-European country to defeat a European country in a sea battle) The great quake of San Francisco in 1908?

I know these things because I'm a historian. But what do you guys know? (I'm actually curious)


About Oprah: I just figured she's a lady with a lot of influence. She succeeded in following a diet and promoted Obama. Also, she's stopping quite soon I thought. So her show will go down with the decade. Not that she has had much influence on me or perhaps any European but I'm having trouble thinking of influential women on an international scale (I don't see showbizz as a good influence ;)).

Ursa.. the Boer war.. as an australian that is considered quite important, Oscar Wilde died in those first 10 years right?
Australia federated.. again an australian thing.

Trend of the decade: the hipster. Maybe I just notice them because they surround me everywhere I go.

@ Ursa. My degrees are in history - my interests and the professional experience I've had have been in the Victorian era/turn of the century. I could probably tell you a lot. I could name a couple of those naval battles, talk about the Wiener Werkstatte (my girlfriend is obsessed with turn of the century Vienna), I think the San Francisco quake was in 1906. 1908 was the last time my beloved Cubs won the World Series! Mark Twain and Queen Victoria died in that decade.

This decade (2001-2011) will be characterized by 9/11, Bush, and the Iraq war in politics, as well as the green movement. Culturally it is characterized by social networking and web 2.0, as well as globalization. Monoculturization if you will.

@grima, Holiday by Greenday. song of the decade???

the defining man of the decade has been osama bin laden for all the wrong reasons. western leaders have come and gone but he is (probably) still out there. having said that even if he had been killed years ago another would have taken his place.

when people remember decades when they are just ending things from the final years of the decade tend to dominate but later on the recent memory fades and earlier more important things gain their rightful prominence.

If Hitler made Times man of the century, than Osama bin Laden should at least make man of this decade. Being a bad guy does not deminished the affect they have on the world.

Man of the decade belongs to George W. Bush, I can't stand him or what he did but for 8 years he terrorized the U.S. and the rest of the world.

Bush would not have been known for much if it had not been for 9/11

the only Bush anyone should care about is a nicely trimmed aromatic Bush.. the presidents are dicks and dumb red neck ones to boot

Speaking of aromatic bushes...

-insert vagina-related joke here-

@warsprite: Maybe that's why he arranged it, with the help of his Saudi buddies?

@Timur you are seriously suggesting that 9/11 was staged? Get real.

@red squirrel- It is only my opinion, you are free to suggest something else. I think it realy shows the fellings of a lot of young people in this decade. You know, anti war and a felling of escaping the truth.
As I sayed, I was pretty young in the early years of decade and I live in Israel, which has a diffrent mentalety than the USA and Europe, so I may be wrong (not that there is a right and wrong in this thing but what ever). What do you think is song of decade?

Oh wow, thats really cool girmo. You guys probably have a very different view of the stuff going on in the middle east than we do seeing as everything that happens there affects you much more heavily.