Sales tax is a a system that is now on the verge of collapse
Futurist Thomas Frey: As a general rule, extreme levels of complexity take a significant toll on society. The price we pay for complexity is far greater than the money involved. With upwards of 90,000 separate taxing districts in the U.S. sales tax has become an overly complicated system deeply entrenched in the fabric of society, but woefully out of touch with the times.
The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library
The University of Chicago will be opening a new library tomorrow that will use a massive automated retrieval system, turning the whole library experience on it’s head. The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library is designed to accommodate the way people study and research today — online. The structure’s large spaces are made for computer work and have no traditional bookshelves. (pics and video)
Continue reading… “University of Chicago to Open Library of the Future”
Experimenting Our Way to Success – Reinventing Publishing Models
Futurist Thomas Frey: Amazon revolutionized book reading in 2007 when it introduced its Kindle book reader. Within the past three years, the explosive sale of book readers has caused a massive surge in the sale of e-books, already outpacing the sale of hardcover books, with a prediction by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos that they will outsell paperbacks within the next year.
Continue reading… “The Fall of Book Publishing: The Rise of New E-Book Business Models”
Albert Einstein
Huge objects in the universe distort space and time with the force of their gravity, scientists said on Wednesday after a NASA probe confirmed two key parts of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
Continue reading… “Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity Proven”
Futurist Thomas Frey: Over the next year I will be proposing a series of eight major prize competitions, competitions designed to pit the countries of the world against each other in a series of extraordinary tests of skills and abilities.
Continue reading… “Prize Competition #1: The Race to the Core”
The “digital wallet” will store the banks’ customers’ credit and debit card account information, both for Visa cards and other cards.
The world’s largest credit and debit card processing network, Visa Inc, is building a digital wallet that people can use to pay for things online or with their phones instead of with traditional cards.
Continue reading… “Visa Plans to Launch Digital Wallet for Banks in the U.S.”
Information at the speed of need
Futurist Thomas Frey: The distance between information and our brain is getting shorter.
Twenty years ago if you had access to a large information base, such as the Library of Congress, and someone asked you a series of questions, your task would have been to pour through the racks of books to come up with the answers. The time involved could have easily have been 10 hours per question.
In-car portable navigation systems could be gone entirely in five years.
Change is the one thing that is predictable in the technology world. Technology that was commonplace ten years ago, such as PDA’s, CRT televisions and fax machines are all quickly fading away.
Continue reading… “Five Tech Gadgets That Will be Obsolete in Five Years”
The U.S. is running out of wireless spectrum.
The United States is facing an imminent spectrum crisis in which exploding demand from smartphones will soon overwhelm the nation’s wireless capacit, according to the FCC.
Futurist Thomas Frey: As a futurist I spend much of my time searching for failure points. Why failure points? Because they are the unforgiving anchors around which society changes directions.
Continue reading… “Eight Fundamental Drivers Controlling Our Future”
WaveJet
A jet-powered boards designed to make paddling, catching and even riding waves easier and more enjoyable is coming to a surfing lineup near you.
Neurowear has developed a set of ears that apparently respond to the wearer’s emotions via a sensor.
Some people spend their lives wearing their hearts on their sleeves. Thanks to a Japanese company, you can show off exhibit your innermost feelings somewhere else – a pair of fluffy ears on your head. (Pics and video)
Continue reading… “Fluffy Cat Ears That Wiggle with Your Every Emotion”