Seems like a simple concept: my stuff. You point into your purse, house, or phone screen to indicate your belongings. A story about Justin Bieber not being able to paint his car the colour he chose https://www.distractify.com/p/why-is-justin-bieber-blacklisted-ferrari got me riffing on the concept of ownership. It’s complicated, lots of laws and cultural influences modify what it means when you own objects. When we take… Read More »Ownership.
Being right about something that’s wrong isn’t very satisfying. This CBC article reports that the mobile app from my favourite provider of coffee and donuts was collecting personal location data inappropriately. The story, highlighting a report from Canada’s privacy commissioner, supports my ongoing contention that apps, in general, may be evil. The level of detail in the CBC post is wonderful, showing… Read More »Privacy and $2 Will Buy you a Cup of Coffee
Dizzying shifts in the stock market and cryptocurrency values with widespread, nauseating price increases feel like the perfect storm on a same-as-last-year paycheck. It may not make it any easier to pay 25% more for groceries, gas or home maintenance, but my way of coping with an uncontrollable situation is to understand how it works. My analysis of the big… Read More »Inflation. Deflation. Economic Conflagulation.
I’m looking for something to watch on TV, but the business model has changed. The home entertainment industry has been disrupted. Corporate strategies have evolved. How do people decide on their (not entirely) nightly visual home entertainment? This consumer wants to understand shopping for content by looking at1 the evolution of the industry: In the beginning (of her experience), there were… Read More »There’s everything on TV tonight.
The basic premise of artificial intelligence, to use enormous amounts of data to find out new things, is easy to grasp. If any one of us had the time and stamina to study a million photos or stories about a thing, I’m sure we’d come up with insights about it too. Business products emerging from current applications of artificial intelligence… Read More »The GUIey Middle of Artificial Intelligence
Two things happened to me at about the same time, so they must be related. Right? Ok, both were about customer service. One was kinda theoretical, the other a real-life experience. Theory and real life intersecting? There’s always a fundamental interconnectedness. Here’s what I experienced: #1. I’m reading the book: ‘If you are in a Dogfight, become a Cat!’ by… Read More »Are you having a meaningful relationship with a brand?
The Metaverse is the only thing people are talking about these days. Well, other than the pandemic, vaccines, masks, war, politics, inflation, NFTs, cryptocurrencies, oh, and global warming, equity, diversity and inclusion, house affordability and the cost of gas. But the metaverse. It’s either the next big thing that will solve many current problems or the next big hype that… Read More »Time to go to the Metaverse?
You know the list. The technologies, labelled creative destruction, that changed life as we humans knew it: Fire. Pasteurization. The assembly line. Washing machines. Email. Mobile Phones. Each of these had a dramatic impact on society, generally decreasing the effort required to do a vital human activity and allowing us to do other, more interesting things1. Should plastic be added… Read More »Destructive Creative Destruction
‘Tis the season… to think about how to change the world. Approaching a new year, I donate stuff from my closets and drawers that I don’t need but hope someone else does, and think about what I could contribute to a bigger, global picture. For me, this starts with ‘in my wildest dreams, what would l like to happen?’ As… Read More »Visions of Social Change
To recent developments in tech business1 I say: MEH. There’s lots happening. But not finding the sizzle of cool new things or the intrigue of dramatic social change isn’t just my version of the February blahs. For an ardent follower of the business of technology, this lack of interest interests me, especially because it’s me who is disinterested. It’s like a hockey… Read More »The Very Exciting Tech Business Blahs.
