A video introduction about the future, for a panel discussion at an AARP convention in Orlando in 2010.
NYT on context
I recommend reading the NYT article “Texts without context” by Michiko Kakutani. It heavily quotes Jaron Lanier.
It’s describes the state of the art with regards to the internet, media and culture. We’re changing the way we think and process information: commentary is king, division and identity politics are key, and “mash-ups are more important than the source” (to quote Jaron).
The article gets lost in the middle and has too many quotes. But has good points of how we’re receiving and interacting with info today. It’s a thought provoking aggregate.
Kakutani writes “People form judgments before seeing the arc of an entire work… and rely far more heavily on cherry-picked anecdotes — instead of broader-based evidence and assiduous analysis”.
This is very much in line with news reporting today. It’s become like fast food- don’t let it get cold before you serve it.
He ends with another quote from Jaron “… since the Web is killing the old media, we face a situation in which culture is effectively eating its own seed stock.”
Whether this is good for us isn’t relevant; it’s here. I doubt it will ever go away. It’s now a right, a platform for freedom of speech that people have never had before.
I don’t think we can neatly separate technology, business, and culture anymore; the bleed is too heavy.
Some initial questions for the future.
- What will define a subject matter expert?
- Should we build frameworks for knowledge unions?
- How this effects business and government?
- What role can technology play in making sense of the mess? Is it a mess?
- Can we predict the evolution of media and culture?
- Is there an opportunity to redirect culture? Should we?
I saw a talk from Mary Ann Allison 5 years ago. Part of her talk was about automation and its effect on society (Farming, manufacturing, etc). She gave us in software technology a warning, she called it “Karma”-and said be thoughtful because what we automate, as we will be setting the stage for automating social processing.
Would love to hear your thoughts.
inno day 2007
Thinking about the past…Innovation Day 2007- Living and building Europe’s digital future
Microsoft’s Innovation Day in 2007 was set in Brussels. The event demonstrated leadership and innovation to the EU public sector and the media. The focus was on consumer safety and privacy including child safety, fraud, and game addiction. I presented 3 team vision demos and had conversations with key leaders around these topics. Scenarios presented were:
Sharing Personal Info safely
A demonstration of an experience hiring a babysitter that showed how a method of reciprocation allowed participants to safely share personal information while protecting their privacy.
Keeping our Children on Track
A prototype tablet designed for a child that had parental controls and content management built in. Scenarios showed touched on: safe communications, homework, and a game for which children performed chores in order to earn credits for technology play.
Browsing based on preferences and more
Through an online entertainment guide, we displayed content populated by a combination of filters including your preferences, tracking your history and organizations you may subscribe to. The content included: recommendations from the school based on the current curriculum, trips taken and planned, shows based on actors we’ve watched…
It was a fun trip, although spending 3 days in Europe is never enough…
on my mind…
Of late I’ve been troubled with generational views of technology (the gap) and those making policy around them. The boomer generation sees tech as a tool, where the younger generations see it as more of an extension of themselves, and are more likely to identify with the possibilities.
Many of the decision makers today are working from conditioned mindsets that aren’t prepared for how technology is empowering and enabling the average person. A perfect example of the generation gap was in an article 4/21/10 “Technical difficulties at the Supreme Court” about our Supreme Court justices and their collective lack of understanding current technology.
Understanding the long term implications of the choices we make today is imperative. We’ve seen significant change in the last 10 years as people, businesses, and governments are now empowered and connected in new ways. This has posed new challenges for us all in staying current; not only with our investments in technologies, but also in our processes and mindset’s in preparing for the future. We’ve moved into an era of extreme agility. Progress is no longer linear on a timeline, it’s fractured and simultaneous.
It’s in our best interest to help our leaders not only build a technology roadmap, but also a vision that includes understanding what we’ve enabled, so they can be proactive in their response and involvement. Enabling them to effectively lead (and react less).
Jesse Schell-DICE 2010
Jesse gave an entertaining and informative talk “Design outside the Box”
He spoke about the playing field for the online world and how reality is everywhere, not just in games.
Facebook, it was unexpected and is not like other retail models. Factoid: There are more Farmville players than twitter accounts.
Some online gaming successes are attributed to what he calls the elastic velvet rope; aka psychological tricks.
- WebKins- Promote virtual animals and stuffed animals are real (truly kids believe this)
- Club Penguin-Get’m hooked with free stuff and then start charging for extras.
- Mafia games- Using your real friends to play games and compete with.
- If you spend time on things it must be valuable.
He cites the book “Authenticity” – Gilmore and Pine, the premise is about what consumers really want.
The most valuable thing in products today is whether they are real/authentic. Why now? All of the virtual stuff that has crept up over the years has cut us off from nature. We live in a bubble of fake.
He believes in technological divergence not convergence; with the exception of the pocket devices. Phones are like a Swiss army knife- including not appropriate for the kitchen.
He has a funny diatribe around point systems from ear buds influencing your dreams to digital tattoo advertising competition.
NIN- my muse
I went to a Nine Inch Nails concert summer 2008, the tech for the staging was interactive and incredible.
There were 3 vertical layered of screens, an LED screen backdrop and 2 semitransparent screens in front, with the band between the layers.
The set also was interactive at times using touch, lights and presence as the interaction method.
The Nine Inch Nails – The Making Of from Moment factory shows some of how they did it. More info about Moment factory.
Here’s a video someone took in Seattle which is taken from a side balcony and gives a pretty good idea of how it was set up and the different ways the set was used.
We have come a long way baby…
Radio Head- making of…
The Making-of “House of Cards” video explains how they made the video.
No traditional cameras, instead- scanners, lasers and other cool tech.
proud moment
4/18/2006 we had the honor of hosting President Hu Jintao at Microsoft. The experience was amazing, especially to work with the Chinese national employees. They worked tirelessly to make the visit perfect. They genuinely cared to give their president the very best experience. Their sense of patriotism was celebratory and refreshing. I still feel high when I think of the event.
We designed a 9 minute tour that introduced the Microsoft Home. We personalized the space including vision prototypes displaying photos of places he had lived throughout his life. He was appreciative of the gesture. The tour was presented by Tim Chen, head of our Chinese efforts at the time. At one point I presented a clothing scenario in the teenagers’ closet as Tim translated. The President bowed to me, twice.
It was my job to make sure the Home visit went smoothly. I purchased a stop watch for our rehearsals to make sure we hit our marks. It’s now attached to my bulletin board as a memento. The tour ended up taking 14 minutes, the president was very interested. During the visit one of his body guards, a woman, (provided by the CIA?) ran defense keeping the press at bay. She bounced back and forth with her arms out stretched creating a barrier all the while manically chewing gum. I wanted to giggle.
Microsoft was the first place President Hu Jintao came to on his US visit.
….
Speaking of Presidential first visits, in the summer of 2007 we had Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triết on the first presidential visit to the US since the Vietnam War in 1975. Wow. While it was an honor to also be a part of that visit, it didn’t have the same elevated effect.
fall trip 2006
This is from an email I sent to my team after a whirlwind trip. I don’t normally travel that much for work…
2 weeks.
5 countries, 7 cities, 7 flights, 3 train trips, multiple metros, taxis, and even a bike.
1 apartment, 3 hotels, with 1 free upgrade.
2 missed flights, 2 lost and found bags, 2 confiscated cosmetics, an almost lost camera and confiscated bottle of gin later… I am back.
How did it go?
You’ll just have to imagine… or ask.
Philips design philosophies
Over the years I’ve followed (off and on) Philips design approaches and philosophies, especially Josephine Green, and Stefano Marzano.
I met Josephine Green in Brussels; she was on a panel for the research and academic folks. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see the panel, although I did get to have an interesting conversation about ways to think about designing for the future.
Given different circumstances, I think we could have conversed all day. We generally share similar perspectives on the people and social aspects of what we’re both doing. It would be interesting if to think about information and vision sharing outside the company, and whether we could synch with Philips or others…and focus on sharing philosophies, not IP. Consider it soul food.
Checking back in with the Philips site here are a few interesting articles.
This article, A vision of the future, is old but one I’ve come back to many times.
Other articles…