The Tale of Fernforest and Petro Dale
An enchanting fable about Hollywood and Silicon Valley
Control Freak
The future will likely hold many surprises for computer control (mind control anyone? biotic implants?) but one thing that for certain is that whatever comes next will likely only take off if it is elegant in a way we didn’t anticipate, and useful in ways we can’t imagine.
Samsung See, Samsung Do: The Case of the Apple Copycat
“At the end of the day, I wonder if Samsung is doing a good job copying, or a great job stealing?”
Difference Engine: Luddite Legacy
AN APOCRYPHAL tale is told about Henry Ford II showing Walter Reuther, the veteran leader of the United Automobile Workers, around a newly automated car plant. “Walter, how are you going to get those robots to pay your union dues,” gibed the boss of Ford Motor Company. Without skipping a beat, Reuther replied, “Henry, how are you going to get them to buy your cars?”
RIM, Stop Following the Leader
RIM has done a lot for the smartphone industry, including being the pioneers of push messaging, but now it seems like their time is up, and it’s time for them to move on.
The Career Arc: Eddie Murphy
“Why doesn’t everyone ever point out that Eddie (Murphy) is the most successful comedian ever, by any calculation … and really, it’s not even close? That he’s one of the best stand-ups ever? That, before Eddie, only white actors were considered sure things at the box office? That Eddie made more money making kids’ movies than anyone ever? Doesn’t this seem … I don’t know … relevant?”
Android update woes visualized
“7 of the 18 Android phones never ran a current version of the OS.
12 of 18 only ran a current version of the OS for a matter of weeks or less.”
Long Term vs Short Term Thinking Pt 1 - Hypberbolic Time Discounting
Sometimes it’s hard to make decisions about the future with a clear head. Life is full of opportunities to make trade-offs between short term and long term pain/gain. The closer the short-term, and the farther the long-term, the better your chances of making a short-sighted decision. This kind of thinking is well-understood in behavioural psychology, and they even have a term for it: hyperbolic time discounting. The further an event is from you, the more you discount the anticipated effects of that event, with a strong bias to favouring things that are happening very soon.
What does this mean in practice? Well consider the classic example, something which may have affected a large portion of the “99%” who are currently occupying Wall Street. If you need a TV today, but you also need to retire comfortably 20 years from now, its easy to discount the importance of an event 20 years in the future and buy that TV instead of saving for retirement. Compound decisions like that over a number of years and when that 20th year arrives, there may be some difficulties.
Caught in the Google Nexus
“The best Android phones available are probably going be the hardest to find, and the least promoted in phone stores. Thanks to Google’s partners, the most open version of their open OS is the one you’re least likely to see.”
