Another year of the Consumer Electronics Show has passed and lots of new stuff introduced.
The biggest news was 3D TV; TVs continue to get smaller and can switch themselves off when they sense they are not being watched! Will TV’s have feelings in future?
ASUS, manufacturers of the cool Eee PC, the hottest Xmas seller, announced the Eee keyboard, with a built-in 5-inch screen for browsing. Elsewhere, new one-stop remote controls, the first mind-controlled toy (the Mattel Mindlfex), and more video glasses from Vuzix (the Wrap 920). Today, these glasses allow you to watch 3D TV from portable players and mobile phones, but in future, I am certain they will convert your thoughts into on-screen action and movement. I am sure we can have some fun with that!
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Viva Las Vegas
If there was one place I would like to be this week it is Las Vegas, and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). CES is the annual pilgrimage for gadget fans to see the very latest gadgets, news and predictions. I am watching the releases daily to find out what is expected from the big brands, new innovations from the little guys, and the fun and games as companies compete for headlines. I first mentioned Buglabs two years ago in a presentation, and it is great to see them highlighted – they make a collection of electronic modules that snap together to build any gadget you can imagine. Next week I will pick out some of the most user-friendly gadgets and devices from the show (always like those). Stay in touch at: http://www.cesweb.org/
The wrinklies now have the crinklies
Read this line from ‘Funky Business’, the excellent book by Jonas Ridderstrale and Kjell Nordstrom, two very cool and no-nonsense authors. They say silver surfers have the money to do as they please, and question if we are targeting them – an audience who has the know-how, the lifestyle and the cash to fund it!
Fact: according to a report by insurance group AXA, internet usage surpassed gardening as the preferred pastime for pensioners, as long ago as 2007. Are we engaging them?
Great school – this is the future of technology
I presented at the JJB Stadium in Wigan last week and was invited to be interviewed by the pupils of St Edmund Arrowsmith School. I was amazed, not just by their professionalism, but how closely they listened to the presentation, picked up key themes and then asked challenging questions, all of which were recorded for a podcast that was made available soon after – how impressive.
These schoolkids know more than we do – they don’t reflect on technology, they live and breath it. Teachers must become enablers, facilitators and coaches to support them, the kids know where to go to find content and they work it out very quickly.
They make me feel old, but more power to them!
If women are females, are men emails?
I asked one of my kids: “If women are females, then men are…?”
And they replied, “Men are emails.”
I thought that was a quite brilliant response, and how true.
We seem to spend all our waking hours connected in some way, and a report in the UK actually highlighted that 17% of us are anxious when we are offline. In addition, a number of companies across the country have hired consultants to help their staff deal with the stress levels that come with having a full Inbox of emails. Will our Inboxes just continue to fill and will ’email stress’ be the next backache for the workplace?
A bite-sized life
Read an interesting little article in Metro newspaper on my commute to the office this week.
The City Academy School in Hackney, East London has abandoned text books and now encourages its pupils to download information to their mobile phones.
Life is becoming bite-sized – people like to snack on books, perhaps a chapter at a time; we know that already today some 10% of viewers watch popular TV shows like Doctor Who outside of their traditional broadcast time, that TV is becoming as portable as music; and that learning will also take this path in future.
Imagine schools as drop in centres for 60-minute learning modules, then back to work.
Schools are important, though, they cannot become virtual, because technology is reducing the amount of time kids spend face to face – schools are one of the few great places they can gather and interact.
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?School_dumps_books_for_mobiles&in_article_id=387384&in_page_id=34
Nabaztag
So, who is Nabaztag?
I am just back from the Gitex conference in Dubai. 130,000 visitors, 3,300 companies from 83 countries. I presented a session on IT Skills for the region and met some great new people. Walking around the show, I came across some great new devices – Sharp’s 108″ LCD, Panasonic’s astounding 150″ display, and the latest in cameras and next-phase TVs.
The thing that caught my eye was this little rabbit, Nabaztag. It feeds off the internet and responds to what he finds. He plays music, reads out content from any website (in 16 languages), tells you the weather and stock prices (perhaps not a good idea today) and integrates with MSN, Twitter, MySpace and others. I like the fact that he can read your messages to you!
Check him out at www.nabaztag.com.
The most profound words
Technology has turned us into the equivalent of playing an old record at 78rpm. Life is too fast, no time for anything, or anyone. The extract below was taken from a poem called Slow Dance, written by a terminally ill girl in a New York Hospital. The most profound words I have read for a long time:
When you run so fast to get somewhere,
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life is not a race,
Do take it slower.
Hear the music,
Before the song is over.
4×4 Video
Just returned from a very productive 4 days in Chicago, including a two-day strategic session focused on who we are serving (more on that next week), but what caught my eye were the new screens and their stunning picture quality. We have a 65-inch Sharp screen in the office at CompTIA which is most impressive, and I also read that NEC unveiled their largest ever LCD at 82-inches, which can be tiled together for a 4×4 video. Is this the Range Rover of TVs?
Do we like the idea of TVs this large? Can our small houses in the UK accommodate screens this size? We know that Sony have launched a foldable display screen less than a millimetre in depth. This type of technology will be embedded into our clothing and even into wallpaper as invisible screens, so it is a battle of the giants – like cars I guess, the Range Rover is for some, whilst the G-Wiz suits others. What suits you?
Quote of the Week
Just finished a great book: “4-Hour Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss.
Great nuggets and takeaways throughout the book, I highly recommend it. Great quote from Star Trek referenced in the book:
SCOTTY: “She’s all yours, sir. All systems automated and ready. A chimpanzee and two trainees could run her!”
CAPTAIN KIRK: “Thank you, Mr Scott. I’ll try not to take that personally.”