I've included these because in essence these notes are taken from the people behind some of the products and help to (I hope) expose them and their products for the nonsense they really are.
1. 10 Pebble
‘The Pebble makes it easy to see whose trying to reach you.
You can ‘feel’ incoming calls when your hands are full or
glance at text messages when your phone is away. It
controls the music on your smartphone...’
What? So your hands are full but you will be able to twist
your wrist to see and do what, exactly? Glance at text
messages - How busy are you?! What design problem is this
solving? Away - on holiday?
I can see how it might have some uses for various sports,
but in all honesty as a runner and cyclist I like to rely on
devices that are made to service those activities, rather than
a one stop shop option.
They’ve created a solution to a problem that was never
there.
They’ve created a remote control for a device that doesn’t
needed one. What next ‘Pebble2’ to control your Pebble?
They’ve filled a hole that wasn’t there with a square peg, or
should that be ‘pebble’.
2. 11 Amplify
‘...if a teacher hits her "eyes on teacher" button, any or
every student's tablet in her classroom suspends; a
message tells the student to look up. Or the teacher can
call on a student randomly, and a message pops up on
her screen. Or with just one click, a teacher can pose a
multiple-choice pop quiz and see instant results, set a five-
minute timer for an activity, or divide students into
discussion groups. Or she can automatically give
individualized homework assignments based on the day's
performance.’
More than 8 million iPads have been sold to classrooms,
including 3.5 million in the last year
NewsCorp is not alone. Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Dell,
Microsoft are seeking a way in to $9billion dollar market.
Where’s Google at with this?
3. 11 Glass
‘I got a message from a friend asking was I was up to and I
just took a picture and sent it and thought ‘Wow, images
are the future’ - Sergey Brin
‘Who would want to hang out with someone wearing these
specs? Never knowing when it’s actually safe to pick your
nose! Will stalking become normal?’ Panja Göbel, Cant #2
Wearable technology. Google Glass. It’s obvious that until
such time that technology can be hardwired in
to our central nervous system, brands are going to develop
technology that is worn. Wearable technology. This is
nothing new. - Nike Fuel band, Jawbone’s Up, Pebble and
Google Glass.
But I’m not convinced this is stepping stones.
4. 12 NewsCorp Amplify
‘There is no home button, for example: Students can't just
exit out of a math program the way they can close Angry
Birds on an iPad. Instead, if a teacher hits her "eyes on
teacher" button, any or every student's tablet in her
classroom suspends; a message tells the student to look up.
Or the teacher can call on a student randomly, and a
message pops up on her screen. Or with just one click, a
teacher can pose a multiple-choice pop quiz and see
instant results, set a five-minute timer for an activity, or
divide students into discussion groups. Or she can
automatically give individualized homework assignments
based on the day's performance.’
5. 13 Steve Jobs Schools
‘teachers will no longer simply convey knowledge to a
group of children; they will be transformed into coaches
that support children with their individual and group
projects. Because educational apps are used for basic skills,
the learning process can be completely adapted to the
individual child’s learning speed and style.’
6. 14 Qubit
Right now the internet uses the RSA algorithm
(RSA stands for Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard
Adleman, who first publicly described the algorithm in
1977).
A user of RSA creates and then publishes the product of
two large prime numbers, along with an auxiliary value, as
their public key. The prime factors must be kept secret.
Anyone can use the public key to encrypt a message, but
with currently published methods, if the public key is large
enough, only someone with knowledge of the prime factors
can feasibly decode the message.
Why does this matter? Using a quantum-bit (qubit)
computing experiment Erik has created the possibility of
breaking the RSA algorithm; the main encryption the
internet uses. He's done this by creating the first quantum-
bit (qubit) computer. What does this mean?
7. You buy something using your credit card. Between you
and your bank there is an encryption key. That key is made
from two large prime numbers, both kept secret. You have
one, your bank has one and the encryption key is the
multiplication of those two numbers which would normally
take millions of computers longer than the age of the
universe to crack. Until Erik. Using Quantum physics the
calculations are not done sequencially, but symulateanously.
What does this mean? It means, in theory, the encryption
key created by your transaction, between you and your
bank could be broken as fast they are made.
BUT
Worry not. The same Quantum computing means that
using quantum laws physics can also be used to create the
ultimate way to safeguard. Current codes are called Public
Key Codes and they could be broken by Quantum
computing. But Quantum mechanics supplies methods that
means sharing information securing using Quantum
cryptography.
8. 15 Will.i.am
‘First-off your logo has to be just as impactful in black and white you’ve got
to start there.
If your logo’s not powerful black and white then there’s a problem.
If your logo’s not powerful very, very small then there’s a problem.
If your logo collapses when you blow it up really, really big, then there’s a
problem.
If your logo can’t transform itself to other things and you still don’t know
what that thing is then there’s a problem.
So your logo should be able to have all those things in the new world where,
you know … it’s symbolic… some type of meaning that represents your
brands, companies… I don’t even like to use the word brand, your
companies… if the logo doesn’t represent the companies objective… on a
symbolic level… right, ‘cuz you have to think of what India is going to do to
the world. We know what Silicon Valley did to the world. We know what
China does for the world.
But what India is gonna do for the world is it’s gonna create this symbolic
language, because India’s unique because they speak English but they have
a different alphabet. So they’re gonna add a whole new visual connecting
language to the planet. You know?
And Symbology and logos are going to play a big role in that.
Understanding something just by looking at a logo, or different symbols. A
new language. A new type of font will emerge. And understanding of
symbols.’
– Will.i.am
9. 20 Dave Eggers
This is a beautiful short story about a dog. A fast dog. I
won’t ruin it except to say that just after he is thrown in the
river and before he drowns Steve, the dog, has an
epiphany.
‘The one big surprise is that as it turns out. God is the sun.
It makes sense, if you think about it. Why we didn’t
see it sooner I cannot say. Every day the sun was right there
burning, our and other planets hovering around it, always
apologizing, and we didn't think it was God. Why would
there be a God and also a sun? Of course God isthe sun.
Everyone in the life before was cranky, I think, because they
just wanted to know.’
10. 21 iWatch
Last weekend I read What if Apple’s iWatch is… a TV? By
Jonny Haskins
Had the same ‘OF COURSE!’ moment... Apple’s iWatch - it’s
not a Watch (dummies) it’s a TV. It makes perfect sense.
(I bet INTEL are shitting it).
In December 2012, Tim Cook said in an NBC interview,
“When I go into my living room and turn on the TV, I feel
like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years…It’s
an area of intense interest. I can’t say more than that.”
TV which taps into a $39 billion market. A watch couldn’t
command even 1% of that market’s earnings.
The principal profit comes not from selling the TV, but the
right to access specific content and to buy the unique
platform that brings this to you.
11. 25 Social Media Addictions
There is science around this. Studies show that Facebook
likes and retweets on Twitter give users a dopamine rush,
making them feel happier. Imagine the hit from someone
saying that they fancy you. That hit, along with the sheer
volume of people to look at, makes swiping fiendishly
addictive.
‘Kristen Lindquist, professor of psychology at the University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, says social information feels
intrinsically rewarding to people. We get a jolt of dopamine
when someone “likes” our Facebook post or retweets our
Twitter link. Over time, the effect on the reward centre in
the brain is similar to what makes drug addicts go back for
another line of cocaine.
“You end up developing an association between Facebook
and goodness, and that sustains the behaviour,” Ms
Lindquist says. “As with cocaine addicts, over time you
need more and more of that substance to get that feeling.”
One study of Chinese students who spent 10 hours a day,
six days a week playing online games, found decreases in
grey matter in parts of the brain associated with cognitive
function. Researchers concluded that “long-term internet
addiction would result in brain structural alterations”,
contributing to chronic dysfunction.
12. 33 Sir Tim Berners-Lee
In 1994, Berners-Lee founded the W3C at MIT. It comprised
various companies that were willing to create standards and
recommendations to improve the quality of the Web.
Berners-Lee made his idea available freely, with no patent
and no royalties due. The World Wide Web Consortium
decided that its standards should be based on royalty-free
technology, so that they could easily be adopted by
anyone.