What goes on behind the scenes that the general public or entrepreneurs don’t see?
Whatever you want to call “the sharing economy” or “marketplace startups,” peer-to-peer marketplaces continue to gain popularity, with a flurry of startups growing rapidly to keep up with all of this “on-demand” demand.
Continue reading… “What sharing-economy startups know that you don’t”
Invisibles will create a world in which we don’t see technology or sensors.
Digital technology is on the verge of disrupting medicine in profound ways with the introduction late last month of Apple HealthKit and other digital health solutions coming onto the market.
Continue reading… “Invisibles, not wearables, will revolutionize healthcare”
Renewable energy shows an average price decline over the last 5 years of 78% for utility scale solar and 58% for wind.
Lazard, an asset management firm, has a fascinating new analysis of renewable and other energy prices out. There are a huge number of insights in this, from an outside analyst whose primary interest is financial.
Continue reading… “Solar and wind prices plunge below fossil fuel prices”
Futurist Thomas Frey: Doctors today are constantly selling.
No, it didn’t start out that way, but a system has evolved that richly rewards members of the physician’s food chain if sales continue.
Continue reading… “Disrupting Healthcare – When Devices Replace Medicine”
There have been few studies, until now, that examined how workers feel about the adequacy of their skills. A survey of employees was released last week that provides strong confirmation of the notion that employees need better skills to do their jobs well, especially skills related to technology.
Continue reading… “Udemy survey finds workers don’t have the skills they need – and they know it”
A new law will allow entrepreneurs to equity crowdfund from anyone with the cash and the interest.
Crowdfunding is really big and it’s only going to get a whole lot bigger. If you’ve been skeptical of all the crowdfunding buzz, consider this: By the end of 2014, crowdfunding is estimated to add at least 270,000 jobs and inject more than $65 billion into the global economy, according to estimates from crowdfunding platform Fundable. (Infographic)
Continue reading… “Crowdfunding will provide $65B to boost the 2014 global economy”
Typical house-bot shopping on a budget
Futurist Thomas Frey: The year is 2027 and Winston, a newly born house-bot charged with doing a number of domestic chores including cleaning, meal prep, laundry, and building maintenance, has been programmed to not only perform the work, but also restock supplies once they reach a certain level.
Continue reading… “Should Robots Have Their Own Bank Accounts?”
Uber implements “dynamic pricing,” which some customers see as price gouging.
There is plenty of press these days on the pros and cons of the so-called “sharing economy.” Consider the diverse takes last week from MIT Technology Review, the New York Times, and the Kansas City Star.
Continue reading… “The ‘sharing economy’ – sharing isn’t free and price gouging isn’t mean”
Our physical world is now technology-enabled by the digitization of everything.
Ted Hall, CEO of ShopBot Tools, which designs and manufactures digital fabrication tools priced for individuals and smaller manufacturing shops, says “complexity is cheap now, and quality is almost free.”
Continue reading… “How digital technologies are changing the physical world”
Amy Norman and Stella Ma started pitching investors on their San Francisco-based startup, Little Passports, in 2009. Both women had young children and Norman was pregnant. The overwhelming majority of the investors they met with were men who wanted to know “if we were running this as a ‘lifestyle company,’” Ma recalls. Investors passed and word got around Silicon Valley that “there’s no way women like this could grow a company fast enough” to satisfy venture capitalists, Norman says.
Continue reading… “Angel Investing: Rise of women investors fuels businesses run by women”
The millennials are very heavy mobile users.
In the U.S., Millennials are one of the largest generational groups and they are also the largest group of smartphone owners, according to a new report by Nielsen. And their adoption of the devices is still growing: by the second quarter of this year, 85% of those aged 18 to 24 owned a smartphone, and 86% of those aged 25 to 34 did.
Continue reading… “Millennials represent the largest group of smartphone owners in the U.S.”
The world of work is changing. In the coming years we won’t be working the same way as we have been over the past few years. Perhaps one of the most important underlying factors driving this change is the coming shift around who drives how work gets done.
Continue reading… “Top 5 trends that will shape the future of work”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
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