The best way to fix the customer’s experience problems is from her side of the marketplace: the demand side.
“Put down the customer. Step away from the marketplace,” Craig Burton once said to a clueless marketing officer That also comes to mind when you hear about unwanted surveillance of customers rationalized for marketing purposes, or how Big Data lets a company know a customer better than she knows herself.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NGGSBt0hkw&hd=1[/youtube]
The serial entrepreneur, Tim Tuttle, who co-founded web acceleration technology company Bang Networks and video search engine Truveo (acquired by AOL), has returned with his third startup, Expect Labs, which he co-founded with Moninder Jheeta (who built infrastructure for Truveo.) Expect Labs has announced its first product, an iPad app for simplified group conferencing called MindMeld that is built upon Expect’s core technology concept — anticipatory computing. Even as a demo, it is an impressive piece of technology that shows where the future of computing is headed. (video)
Photo Credit: NYTimes
Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif.
Often blamed for the steep job losses in U.S. manufacturing is the rise of robotic automation in the manufacturing and packaging industry along with the rampant outsourcing of labor to cheaper workforces. But a real look at the facts and stats show that things just aren’t that cut and dry. (Infographic)
Continue reading… “Infographic: Robots bring jobs back to the U.S.”
The rate of children entering private schools without all of their shots jumped by 10 percent last year.
An Associated Press analysis has found that parents who send their children to private schools in California are much more likely to opt out of immunizations than their public school counterparts, an Associated Press analysis. Even the recent re-emergence of whooping cough hasn’t halted the downward trajectory of vaccinations among these students.
Continue reading… “Vaccination opt-outs on the rise in private schools”
There are other ways to generate a return on capital—and help move the economic recovery.
Over the past 24 months It is well known that America’s largest companies have been stockpiling cash over at alarming rates. It has been estimated from $1.5 trillion to $2.8 trillion. And at first blush, who can blame them? With interest rates at historic lows, market volatility, political uncertainty, the European crisis, severe commodity price fluctuations, and other unpredictable market conditions, corporate brands and executives have been understandably inclined to sit on the sidelines.
Continue reading… “Putting sidelined cash to work to help move the economic recovery”
The Marcone company of St. Louis was implicated in a coolant smuggling scheme.
A trusted senior vice president of a century-old company from America’s heartland had been caught on a wiretap buying half a million dollars in smuggled merchandise, much of it from China. And now the chief executive of the company was on the witness stand trying to explain how the senior vice president did it.
Continue reading… “Coolant smugglers reap large profits”
Eliminating some unnecessary expenses and keeping an eye out for ways to save can help keep precious dollars at home.
The golden years of many retirees have been tarnished by low returns on investments and smaller nest eggs than they’d hoped. Meanwhile, longer life spans, increased expenses — particularly rising health care costs — plus a volatile stock market and low interest rates on savings have baby boomers facing tough choices.
Continue reading… “Cutting costs a new pasttime for retirees”
Vinod Khosla
Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems as well as a partner in a couple venture capital firms was the keynote speaker at the Health Innovation Summit hosted by Rock Health in San Francisco. He said “health care is like witchcraft and just based on tradition.”
Continue reading… “Technology will replace 80% of doctors: Vinod Khosla”
Instagram is more or less a social network.
Well intended parents have been keeping their tweens off of Facebook but they have turned to Instagram, the photo sharing app, as a seemingly innocuous social-network workaround.
Continue reading… “Instagram has become the social network for tweens”
Speaking at “Mobility Day” in Shanghai
Futurist Thomas Frey: Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking at a conference on the “Future of Mobility” in Shanghai, China. The event was produced by the very forward thinking people at Lanxess, a German-based chemical company that broke ground the day before on a new facility to expand its already significant base of operation in Shanghai.
Continue reading… “Driverless Highways: Creating Cars that Talk to the Roads”
Kickstarter is a crowdfunding site.
When it comes to getting your big idea funded by strangers size matters.
Three of the most populated metro areas in the U.S., New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, are the top three Kickstarter cities in America when it comes to total funds raised, according to data compiled by ThingsWeStart.com. Chicago, Austin, and Boston also make the top 10 list.
Continue reading… “Top Kickstarter cities in the U.S. (Infographics)”
A breakdown of our biggest losses as we approach health-care system reform.
The United States spends eight times as much money on unnecessary health-care costs, every year, as the Pentagon spent for each year of its operations in Iraq.
Continue reading… “The U.S. healthcare system wastes $750 billion each year”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.