Nano Nano

With the reality of nano manufacturing around the corner, is the scarcity (and thus high price points) of material goods, say like supercomputers the size of mobile headsets a thing of the past? Natopian scenarios (like the video above) by futurists predict that brands will be meaningless and everyone will have access to the designs that create the most advanced customized products, but can that really be true?

Those especially in the nanotransistor business are optimistic about the possibilities and ready to give Moore’s law a run for its money. But when you see this cool little animation from Dupont is trying to put their “branded” stamp on it, the idea of hi tech (or any other kind of) brands being irrelevant falls by the wayside. As Bob Garfield eloquently stated recently, brands are becoming more important, not less and its likely to continue.

While biotech, genetics and nanotech may move human potential forward, it is still the majority of humans who determine acceptance and adoption of new ways of doing things. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view) those decisions are still made by our emotions no matter which nano powered computing networks we’ve connected our rational minds to.

Closer to Nano Reality

Living on Mars?

It's interesting how we want to escape current realities and start over by contemplating these kinds of ideas while the kind of technologies mentioned here can benefit out planet in much more significant and immediate ways. Thoughts?

The Invisible Man?

The video is an earler demonstration of what the latest story on the subject describes. Check out the latest story from Wired here. Science fiction gets closer to fact once again! Technovelgy fans will dig it the most...

Alternate Energy Solved or Hyped?

An Illuminating Development

Future by Design Trailer, William Gazecki Director

Future of Digital Media Services.

TED : Jeff Han (2006) @ TEDTalks

Amazing UI thinking!

Top Gear GM Highwire

Is this the future or is the carrot for an entirely different paradigm of transportation?

From Things to Thoughts : Can We Make the Shift?

The current human to machine computing interactions seem to have reached their limits. Desktop and windows analogies were based on managing files. Files based on the idea of translating the industrial economy paradigm of working at a desk and having neat little folders to file information away in and retrieve information from. Files seemed best for the management of things (docs, pics, etc.) but will that kind of thinking still apply in a world already dubbed the “global brain”?

In a global brain world, the collection and creation of information is moving at a breakneck pace, and shows no signs of slowing down. The concept of search is a manageable paradigm to absorb, but it seems that search as it stands now is limiting because “search” tools today focus on the “what” of my search and don’t know the “why” of my search and thus create additional inefficiencies of my having to dig through search results to make any sort of meaning.

However, if we look at the “why” of search, our quest seems to mimic the same process that takes place inside our heads when we try to look for a reference, inspiration or even just a piece of information to put into words. Our brains create relevance by the way we file info into both of our conscious and subconscious databases of our minds. I wonder if the same rules have implications in a world transitioning from things to thoughts?

What if we took into account that we locate information in our minds by the following:

Analogy: This should be self explanatory like the time when...

Shared contexts: Like having “inside jokes” and other shared information with others that you can both relate and derive similar meanings from because you shared the context of the original experience that formed it.

Markers : Like when you meet an old friend or visit a familiar place, and all sorts of information and experiences associated with that mental marker come to you.

Recently, I had the good fortune of hanging with the guys at Humanized who turned me on to the concepts of Humane Interfaces. The ideas of automacity and human interfaces that model our interaction with immediate and wider physical space perspectives was not only validating to my world view, but set off a flurry of sparks in my mind about what may be possible in the near future.

I believe interfaces in our interconnected data saturated world should follow thought, mimic interactions in the physical world and reveal new possibilities as we acquire new lenses of purpose much like how we navigate life. The only difference is that in life, the lenses come after a lot of failure and success cycles, whereas in the connection economy interaction paradigm, they’ll likely come as functionality sets for sale :)

Is the Next Technology You?

Futurists and sci-fi writers have traditionally predicted “Jetson’s-like” scenarios of our world might be like in the future. I believe this is largely because of juxtaposing industrial economy worldviews which were still fascinated with our ability to conceive and fashion new and complicated tools.

Interestingly, as we move towards a more interconnected paradigm of civilizahttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.giftion, we are beginning to recognize the huge power and potential of nature’s own systemic design. From the organic structural efficiency of the water cube swimming pool in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics to circuitry to Nanotech devices connecting to organic structures to turbo charge natural phenomena.

So where does all this leave the gadgets we all thought we’d love? Sure we are still fascinated with the latest gizmo, but generally the learning curve and added features of a new devices just adds to our already complicated lives. I believe the next shift here is also to look towards nature for inspired simplicity.

I believe the next technology is us.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Not quite like The Matrix where we’re farmed for our energy in the direct sense, but how different is the analogy of the web as the Global Brain and references like ? Aren’t we collectively contributing our energies for the benefit of all and for each of us? The real difference is obviously individual control, but the idea of control in a truly interconnected paradigm of civilization is largely an illusion.

What’s next? Well, the wealth of info that is in our genetic structure is yet untapped. We’ve just cracked the Genome in the most primitive case and have yet to unlock the true power. I think the correct analogy here is the discovery akin to understanding the binary (0 and 1) foundation of computing. It’s a start, but just imagine being able to tap into knowledge as well as intuition as well as aptitude. Will we need devices for that or will we be implant the collective brainpower directly into our composition. In other words, just like we tap into the wealth of human knowledge now mechanically through the Internet, could we conceivably tap into the same within our bloodstream.

Of course this is just the beginning of debates on ethics and more but isn’t it a scenario worth pondering? Can our individual imagination be surpassed by infusing the imagining capacity of all? What do you think?

Holding The Crystal Ball

Prophets, visionaries and futurists have always held high positions in our society and today more than ever. In the age of discontinuity, the chaotic nature of interconnected factors have almost made it a necessity to stay forward focused on a consistent basis.

So what really is prediction based on? Is it trendwathing? Foresearching? Reaching back to the retro archives to find the overlooked and put it in a new context? That's way too topical for me.

It's about and always will be about people.

I believe the real questions to ask are:

What is the demographic trend globally and what does that mean in terms of:
a) Cultural biases?
b) Education and literacy rates?
c) Communication potential?
d) Ideological distribution?
e) Geographic distribution?
f) Age?

What is depleteing or missing from human interactions?

What are the looming fears on the whole? (Remember, we desire most the direct opposite of what we fear most)

What are the technological and geopolitical forces that are shaping our world?

What are the dominant questions today?

How will they evolve as we answer them in the short term?

These are but a few of the things to clarify the path to the future. I don't think trendspotting is a mystery, and I'm rarely surprised when I see a new idea on the horizon. I think thinking like this both objectively and intuitively will enable to be one step ahead as well.

What will happen?

It's obvious that our media concern has shifted from "What happened?" to "Who's happening" to now "What will happen?" and that's precisely the focus of this blog. In the age of discontinuity and the disappearance of context, (or at least the disappearance of the fixed or shared kind) the focus here will be on of the future.

This is not about trendspotting, there are enough sites about that...this is about the underlying principles of understanding ourselves that give accuracy to any kind of predictions we make. I look forward to sharing my insight about the future here and I hope you'll do the same.