The Futures Agency

futurist-foresight: Isn´t tech convergence just...

marizannek — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:00:42 +0200

Isn´t tech convergence just wonderful?

zeitgeistrama:

and add internet access to the outcome…

the-promised-wlan:

Amazing how much the speed of technological change has increased.. Just imagine what the next 20 years will bring!

"As every aspect of our daily lives has become hyperconnected, some people on the cutting edge of..."

marizannek — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:00:29 +0200

“As every aspect of our daily lives has become hyperconnected, some people on the cutting edge of tech are trying their best to push it back a few feet. Keeping their phone in their pocket. Turning off their home Wi-Fi at night or on weekends. And reading books on paper, rather than pixels.”

- Disruptions: Even the Tech Elites Leave Gadgets Behind - NYTimes.com (via infoneer-pulse)

If Cable Is Dying, Why Is It Still Making So Much Money?

futuristgerd — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:24:10 +0200

If Cable Is Dying, Why Is It Still Making So Much Money?:

But the cable companies aren’t exclusively in the business of selling TV. They’re really in the business of communications infrastructure, which is TV, phone, and Internet. The Internet business in particular has done very well for them. Since cable video subs peaked in the late 1990s, the industry has added 45 million high-speed Internet customers (SNL Kagan data, again). May 23, 2013 at 10:22AM

futuramb: What 3-D Printing Means To The Future Of Advertising...

marizannek — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:00:31 +0200

futuramb:

What 3-D Printing Means To The Future Of Advertising | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce

Advertisers will be forced to reconcile their physical outputs in the world in a way that spitting out spots and microsites never faced us with. Or, said differently, our ad crap is made more evident when it’s a real piece of crap sitting on a desk or floor. We’ll have to continue to ask ourselves, “Is this additive value or just some more crap?” And the crap factor will, hopefully, make us work harder to do better for audiences who are increasingly immune to our virtual ad crap, more so when it’s physical ad crap.

We as consumers will likely find ourselves in a world where, in addition to all the images and messages we are bombarded with today, almost every physical object in public places are designed by somebody in order to make us feel, react, think and ultimately consume in a certain way. A likely reaction against this will be that we will not just close our ears with headphones, but also our eyes to shield our fragile and adaptive minds against all these intrusions.

"In our latest Futurist Forum live discussion, Glen Hiemstra, founder of Futurist.com, will look at..."

marizannek — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:00:34 +0200

“In our latest Futurist Forum live discussion, Glen Hiemstra, founder of Futurist.com, will look at how work will evolve over the next several decades both in America and globally. Work is in the process of becoming more knowledge intensive, but it is easy to exaggerate the importance of this trend. The job as we understood it is disappearing, even as history is likely to repeat itself and produce unprecedented levels of employment. There will be jobs in the future, ranging from the familiar, like dental assistants, to the exotic, like brain augmenters. What will the jobs be and how can one best prepare?”

- Join Us To Hear About The Future Of Work And Jobs | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation (via futuristgerd)

"The greatest contribution of this shift is that it will force every entity to become an authentic..."

marizannek — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:00:46 +0200

“The greatest contribution of this shift is that it will force every entity to become an authentic organization.”

- Virginia Rometty. CEO IBM. Forbes “Three Ways Technology Will Transform the Future of Business”

Technology shifts will also change the way businesses deliver value. “What you will see with rapid data and social sharing is the death of the average and the era of you,” Rometty said. Rather than meeting the needs of different consumer segments—geographic, age or income segmentation, for example—businesses will be able to truly serve the individual. “If you have a call center, it’s no longer about a script,” she said. “It’s about a dialogue.”

What Rometty calls “the third wave of technology” may contribute to this individualized approach. In the first era of computing, computers counted. In the second, they could be programmed to perform instructions. In the next era, computers will learn by themselves, she said. “That’s the wave that starts now.”

(via peterspear)

The Data Made Me Do It

marizannek — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:00:40 +0200

The Data Made Me Do It:

The next frontier for big data is the individual. Would you trade your personal data for a peek into the future? Andreas Weigend did.

Glen Hiemstra, Futures Agency member, talks about what we can...

marizannek — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:00:45 +0200

Glen Hiemstra, Futures Agency member, talks about what we can expect in the near future.

Gerd Leonhard will talk on ‘The Future of Business and...

futuristgerd — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:43:32 +0200

Gerd Leonhard will talk on ‘The Future of Business and Communications in a Networked Society’ focusing on how “SoLoMo” - social local mobile technology is changing the way in which we obtain, digest and use information and what this, in the context of global economic forces, means for communications, business and human relationships. (via GBTA announces opening keynote speaker at GBTA Europe Conference 2013 in Prague)

thisistheverge: Google Glass apps: everything you can do right...

marizannek — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:00:41 +0200

thisistheverge:

Google Glass apps: everything you can do right now

We test every Google Glass app so you don’t have to

Cities are finding useful ways of handling a torrent of data

marizannek — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:00:42 +0200

Cities are finding useful ways of handling a torrent of data | The Economist

Many cities around the country are accumulating data faster than they know what to do with. One approach is to give them to the public. For example, San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago are or soon will be sharing the grades that health inspectors give to restaurants with an online restaurant directory.

"Imagine a part in your car sending a malfunction signal that schedules your car for a repair..."

marizannek — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:00:27 +0200

““Imagine a part in your car sending a malfunction signal that schedules your car for a repair appointment, followed up by an automated function that checks your calendar online and schedules the appointment for you,” Pruitt said. “Or, consider a hydro-sensor in your garden that sends you a message to let you know the plants need more water.” This is only a small part of what the “Internet of Things” will do, he said””

- Contextual Search Gaining Ground In The Internet Of Things - Technology News - redOrbit (via futuristgerd)

Rohit Talwar's "Practical Magic" Keynote (Rohit is a TFA member)

marizannek — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:00:31 +0200

Rohit Talwar's "Practical Magic" Keynote (Rohit is a TFA member):

Keynote presentation on how firms around the globe are responding to emerging drivers of change in creative ways to deliver strategic innovation, master emerging technologies and ensure survival and growth in turbulent times.

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"Every time we make a mobile call or send a text message–which pings a cell tower–that info is..."

marizannek — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:01:16 +0200

“Every time we make a mobile call or send a text message–which pings a cell tower–that info is recorded. So, with enough computer power, a company can draw pretty accurate conclusions about how and when people move through a city or a region. Or they can tell where people have come from to attend an event. As part of a recent case study, for example, Verizon was able to say that people with Baltimore area codes outnumbered those with San Francisco area codes by three to one inside the New Orleans Superdome for the Super Bowl in February. In a world enamored of geolocation, this is digital gold. It’s one thing to know the demographic blend of a community, but to be able to find out how many people pass by a business and where they’re coming from, that adds a whole nother level of precision to target marketing.”

- What Phone Companies Are Doing With All That Data From Your Phone | Innovations (via infoneer-pulse)

Transportation Technology - AT&T Foundry FutureCast by...

futuristgerd — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:16:58 +0200

Transportation Technology - AT&T Foundry FutureCast by ShareATT

8bitfuture: Mobile phone ownership could average one per person...

marizannek — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:00:49 +0200

8bitfuture:

Mobile phone ownership could average one per person this year.

According to data from the International Telecommunication Union the world has almost 1 mobile-cellular subscription for every person on the planet.

An estimated 6.8 billion subscriptions are already active, with an estimated world population of 7.1 billion.

It’s worth noting that data from 2012-2013 is estimated only, and there is no data to indicate how many people have multiple subscriptions.

Comment: It’s the global brain that is connecting.

"London to create airport of the future with 'Internet of Things'"

marizannek — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:00:41 +0200

"London to create airport of the future with 'Internet of Things'":

imadeit-davidjanes:

Many of the more advanced features involve tracking passengers through a mix of face recognition and crowd-sourcing software that already exists in airports, plus the GPS that is already available in smart devices. For instance, a traveler who pre-orders food online or though their smartphone will be able to have it delivered to them as they arrive at the departure lounge.

theatlantic: How Humans Are Changing the Planet—in 7 Dramatic...

marizannek — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:43 +0200

theatlantic:

How Humans Are Changing the Planet—in 7 Dramatic GIFs

“Much like the iconic image of Earth from the Apollo 17 mission—which had a profound effect on many of us—this time-lapse map is not only fascinating to explore,” Google Earth’s Rebecca Moore writes, “but we also hope it can inform the global community’s thinking about how we live on our planet and the policies that will guide us in the future.”

See more. [GIFs: Google/USGS/NASA/TIME]

Yahoo to buy Tumblr

futuristgerd — Mon, 20 May 2013 07:32:27 +0200

Yahoo to buy Tumblr:

futuristgerd:

I hope this does not spell the end of Tumblr as we know it!

futuristgerd: (via Celebrating International Internet of Things...

marizannek — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:00:23 +0200

futuristgerd:

(via Celebrating International Internet of Things Day!)

Nice graphic by Intel