Generative AI Will Shape Shift Our Future in a Profound Way
In January 2019, Kai-Fu Lee, a Beijing-based venture capitalist and former president of Google China boldly predicted that AI would lead to a greater disruption than electricity. Three years later, it seems his forecast is...
Apps With Built-In AI Will Checkmate the Competition
The rapid ascent of ChatGPT has kicked off an A.I. arms race among application developers, both within the AI and general productivity software markets. Apps that feature some AI integration will have a leg up...
Hearing Aids Disruption
A new FDA ruling has opened up the hearing aids market to over-the-counter devices that do not require a prescription or custom fitting, guaranteed to disrupt the industry with new innovations.
Streaming Amplifiers
The newest name of the game in audio is “streaming amplifier” — a device that combines a music streamer with an amplifier for a “just add speakers” entertainment experience.
Facial Rejuvenation
The facial rejuvenation market is shifting to less invasive and safer procedures, driven by the dermal filler and botox markets — advances that are nothing short of breathtaking, if not wrinkle reducing.
Cryptocurrencies
Fully 16% of Americans have invested in cryptocurrencies, resulting in a run up in prices in bitcoin, ether and even dogecoin. In April 2021, the crypto market capitalization hit $2 trillion for the first time.
Managing Content for Online and Offline Publishing
With the plethora of tools available today, you would think that you could easily choose a writing tool that could fulfill all your content creation needs. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Tractable Video Inspection
Tractable’s Video Inspection tool, currently under development, inspects a car in realtime using AI to assess car damage and provide an instant assessment, including figuring out whether a car is beyond repair.
Retail Apocalypse
With more than 200 million Prime members worldwide, Amazon.com is siphoning off frequent shoppers from bricks-and-mortar stores. Huge debt and management misteps did not help, leading to the shutdown of more than 45,000 U.S. stores.
Grayfields
The retail sector collapse, with more than 45,000 store closures since 2007, is accelerating due to the pandemic, leading to hulking, deserted malls, called “grayfields.” Another 500 malls are expected to close in years ahead.
Supersonic Aircraft
The era of supersonic travel is once again on approach. Barring a bumpy ride, passengers will board a United supersonic flight by 2029 and travel from LA to Sydney in six hours and 45 minutes.
A United Boom
United promises to buy 15 of Boom’s Overture airliners once it meets stringent requirements. If all goes as planned, passengers will be able to fly from New York to London in 3.5 hours by 2029.
Darwin on Steroids
There’s little doubt that the human body is changing under our very eyes. Human evolution is accelerating, leading to bulkier athletes, taller people and more precocious young adults. Charles Darwin, you’re so right.
Ghost Franchises
MrBeast, a 22-year-old YouTube star with 54 million subscribers, opened 300 restaurants virtually overnight and sold more than a million sandwiches in the first two months by using such new services as Virtual Dining Concepts.
CRM on the Mac
We have good news to report. Our past two updates in 2013 and 2017 lamented the fact that the Mac was weak in database management, specifically CRM-type solutions. Since then, two recent arrivals, Airtable and...
Replica AI-Synthesized Rapping
Dover, Del.-based Replica has created a video that demonstrates the capabilities of AI when combined with synthetic speech. It’s a preview of feature that will combine Replica’ AI voices with Unreal Engine’s MetaHuman software.
Singles Nation
Married couple households have been on a steady decline since 1930, when they made up 84% of all households. In 2020 that figure was 49%. America, and other countries, are becoming a nation of singles.
Supersizing
A trend kickstarted by The Cheesecake Factory in 1978 has resulted in a doubling of food portion sizes in the past two decades. Egged on by aggressive marketers, the impact on American waistlines is severe.
Virtual Reality
Investments topping $3 billion in 2017 created unrealistic expectations for the VR/AR market, which caused a venture-capital cooldown. The pandemic, however, led to a boom in virtual reality use in the workplace.
Hot Peppers (Spicy Food)
Led by constituents of the experience generation, spicy food and hot sauces have begun their inexorable assault on the senses. Despite often-heard protestations, eating spicy food will be as common as white bread and mayo.
Halide 2.2
Halide has developed a loyal following for its iPhone app due to the control it offers over photographs. This functionality has been ported to the iPad complete with a redesigned interface optimized for larger displays.
Sexing Up Bottled Water
Driven by health-conscious consumers, bottled water consumption in the U.S. has grown more than tenfold in the past three decades. That has opened up many new markets, including niche premium brands targeting experience seekers.
2022 Kia EV6
Hyundai may have been first but KIA has launched its Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) version, Kia EV 6. Response is glowing, as exemplified by this comment, “Tesla better start making nicer and better cars.”
Self-Driving Cars
Self-driving cars have captured the headlines recently due to some unfortunate crashes. However, in many instances it was operator error that caused the accident. The auto industry marches on to a self-driving future.
Memory Protection
In an age of endless information overload, multitasking, and ultra-reliable digital gadgets, memory has become a fungible asset. This will make the business of remembering one that is simply unforgettable.
Air Taxis
Meet George Jetson and his air taxi by Joby. Air taxis are predicted to be a $7 billion market by 2030. Already more than $2 billion has been poured into this market via SPAC mergers.
Generation X-tasy
“Moderation is a fatal thing,” Oscar Wilde wrote in 1893, “nothing succeeds like excess.” Were Wilde alive today, he would see plenty of evidence in the “experience economy” to support his pointed observation.
Digital Lifestyle
As technology becomes more tightly interwoven with the fabric of life, humanity is becoming addicted to digital gadgetry. The trend is so acute that Americans are cutting back on core expenses to afford more devices.