The New Business: RIP, Product and Inventory

RIP Inventory and Product

This shit may blow your mind. Consider: Uber is the world’s largest taxi company. It doesn’t own any vehicles. Facebook is the world’s largest media company. It doesn’t produce any of its own content. Alibaba is the world’s most valuable… Continue Reading

Maybe TEDConnect could save the stupidest part of conferences

TEDConnect

Interesting fact: TED2015 starts next week in Vancouver (Larry Page spoke last year and said some interesting things) while SXSW is going on right now in Austin. So, those events overlap. (They quite possibly always do; I’m unclear on that.)… Continue Reading

2

The one thing your product needs is a simple, elegant interface

Importance of Interface Design

Consider this: The light bulb (Edison) was introduced in 1879; we didn’t see major productivity gains from it until the 1920s. Computers existed in the 1950s and 1960s, but we didn’t see major usage until the 1980s. The Internet even… Continue Reading

Stop fucking checking your phone all the time

Pre-teens rock their phone or iPad or laptop 7.5 hours a day, adults rock some screen about 8.5 hours a day, and of course, all this is tied to a reduction in creativity (or so we believe). I’ve sat at… Continue Reading

The core of the Baby Boomer vs. Millennial divide will occur in health care

Baby Boomers Millennials Health Care

The health care industry is a pretty massive (and massively important) economic concept. In 2012, it was worth about $3 trillion in the United States alone; home health care (just home) is approaching $300 billion industry value. It’s also a huge… Continue Reading

Here’s why artificial intelligence should probably terrify you

I was talking to a friend on Sunday, just about the state of the world — as one is wanton to do on a Sunday — and we started talking about the generally sci-fi idea that evolution won’t end with… Continue Reading

What if what’s really being “disrupted” is The American Dream?

American Dream Disrupted

When you hear the word “disruption” in someone’s keynote speech, really they’re talking about how your quality of life is about to collapse. Continue Reading

Here’s something that could kill the tech industry

Steve Jobs 1995 Wired

We know two things somewhat conclusively in this argument: There are many people who believe San Francisco will someday become what Detroit has become (and is recovering from). 89 percent of the initial Fortune 500 doesn’t exist anymore. To quote Varsity Blues: “Things… Continue Reading