The Jig Is Up: Time to Get Past Facebook and Invent a New Future.

April 19th, 2012 • Allgemein
Tags: Experimental, Facebook, Future, Ideas, People, Prediction, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Tech, Tools, Trends, Truth, World

From the great article ‘The Jig is Up: Time to Get Past Facebook and Invent a New Future‘ (The Atlantic)

‘It slipped into parody late last year with the hypothetical app, Jotly, which allowed you to “rate everything” from the ice cubes in your drink to the fire hydrant you saw on the street. The fake promo video perfectly nailed everything about the herd mentality among startups. Its creator told me to watch for “the color blue, rounded corners, SoLoMo [SocialLocalMobile], ratings, points, free iPads, ridiculous name (complete with random adverbing via ‘ly’), overpromising, private beta, giant buttons, ‘friction-less’ sign up, no clear purpose, and of course a promo video.”

And then, the hilarious parody ate itself and my tears of laughter turned to sadness when the people behind the joke actually released Jotly as a real, live app.’

Here is the original video. Isn’t it ironic? Revolutions always eat their own children. Did anyone say google Glass?

Jotly, the Ultimate App for Sharing Everything with Everyone (Psych!)

1974. The Day Mr Clarke Predicted the Internet.

April 10th, 2012 • People
Tags: 1970s, 1974, 2001, Future, Internet, People, Prediction, video, World

The following video shows British Sci-fi author and futurist Arthur C. Clarke in a 1974 TV interview in which he pretty accurately describes the future. The future in this case is 2001 and Clarke thinks that regular people will then have personal computers that communicate and retrieve information like bank statements, theatre reservations and other things.

Sounds familiar?

Thanks to Laughing Squid. If you enjoy stuff like that, go check out Retronaut.

Trends. 100 Things to Watch in 2012.

Dezember 30th, 2011 • Trends
Tags: 2012, Agencies, Future, jwt, Report, Reports, Study, Trends

JWT‘s PR department has – again – done a great job by creating this annual gallery of things to watch in 2012. Interesting (particularly from an American perspective): We definitely see more sustainable business concepts, travel and commuting models and there seems to be more focus on a more healthy lifestyle and your inner self. If we now even avoid nuking ourselves via Iran, North Korea or Pakistan then hey: This could be a good year.

Key trends according to this report:
- Navigation for cost-sensitive customers
- Food becomes the key eco-issue
- Screened interactions everywhere
- Physical objects get digital counterparts

Thanks to @jkleske for the link.

Please Stop It: Five Things I Hope Not To See Again in 2012.

Dezember 13th, 2011 • 2 comments Allgemein
Tags: 2011, 2012, Future, List, personal, Prediction, Rant, Trends

My calendar reminds me that I still haven’t really proceeded with my Christmas shopping. And this usually is a clear indicator that another year goes by. Much has happened in 2011. And still – some of the most annoying stuff is still there. So before the year ends I would like to articulate my hope that I won’t see 5 things ever again after January 1. But probably I will anyway.

1. Social Media Infographics
Social Media Infographics are probably the most painful thing to witness while browsing through a whole lot of inspiring thoughts in blog feed every morning. Originally the idea was quite good: take dull information and turn it into something nice. By late 2011 social media infographics have unfortunately become a metaphor for reducing information to colorful shit. Many of them are simply wrong or misleading, many of them are even Spam. For the love of Baby Jesus. Stop that.

2. Social Media Boutique Agencies

Whenever I think about the artist formerly known as Social Media I also think about its maturity in 2011. And one sign that the social media evolution isn’t yet where it is supposed to be is quite evident: Social Media Boutique Agencies still exist. I have absolutely no idea why some major companies still let specialized ‘social media vendors’ pitch for isolated accounts. It is against the idea of tearing down the silos. It makes no sense from a management standpoint – and no: they are not necessarily more thoughtful, up-to-date or inspiring than more holistic vendors. Quite often the opposite is the case.

3. TV is Dead Bullshit
Even the Guardian still uses tabloid-style headlines like ‘TV is dead‘. Can we please clarify one thing: Claiming that TV is dead is simply not true. TV (and TV advertising) will definitely reinvent itself over the next couple of years. It will take over a new role in a more digitalized world. But one thing is for sure: My dad still will rather watch TV than tweet.

Read more »

We Like. Credit Card Payment via Webcam.

Juli 27th, 2011 • 2 comments Tech, Tools
Tags: Cool, Creativity, ecommerce, Experimental, Future, Ideas, Jumio, Tech, Tools, We like

Every morning I am trying to fight my way through the world’s startup concepts on betali.st and other sites. And to be honest, most digital enterpreneurs do not have very good ideas.

Jumio Netswipe is different. Sounds like just another startup that…connects you with your friends/let’s you check in to dog poo. But it’s actually extremely purposeful. It’s the first Creditcard payment provider that scans your card via webcam. And yes, I think this really is pretty cool and can potentially be used in the future.

Jumio introduces Netswipe from Jumio Inc. on Vimeo.

via Netzwertig

Soulbot 3000. Looks great, safely contains human Souls.

Juli 20th, 2011 • Experimental
Tags: Cool, Creativity, Design, Experimental, Future, Ideas, Presentation, products, video

They say that we all lose 21 grams at the exact moment of death. They say that it’s the weight of the human soul. Soulbot 3000 is now able to contain this amorphous mass: The Soul. Thanks to Andreas Wannerstedt for making Soulbot 3000 possible.

(via Fubiz)

OMFG. Facebook Eats the Web.

Juni 27th, 2011 • Social, Trends
Tags: Diagram, Facebook, Future, Media, Prediction, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Tech, Trends, Truth, World

About two weeks after the world almost ended Inside Facebook reported about a couple of people enjoying summertime instead of staring at their computer monitors 24/7 traffic drop on Facebook the opposite seems to be true. Facebook in fact eats the Internet.

Ben Ellowitz, Founder and SEO of Wetpaint writes:

When you exclude just Facebook from the rest of the Web, consumption in terms of minutes of use shrank by nearly nine percent between March 2010 and March 2011, according to data from comScore. And, even when you include Facebook usage, total non-mobile Internet consumption still dropped three percent over the same period.

Technically he separates between two different webs: The dominating Facebook-driven web and the web of documents. And the web of documents is under sever pressure. “The illusion of the growth of the internet is just that – a mirage caused by Facebook posting 69% growth over the last year.” (We are Social). Ellowitz’ conclusion: future companies will need to spend less time on SEO, and more time on optimizing for Facebook – the web inside the web.

Read the full article here. I don’t think Facebook can replace the document web. But to be honest, I don’t want to find out. It seems we are currently handing over the greatest invention of mankind to Goldman Sachs and Mister Zuckerberg. Doesn’t feel right.

Media Planning. A pretty good presentation on what it is…or what it wants to become.

Juni 8th, 2011 • Media, People
Tags: Future, Media, Presentation, presentations, Strategy, Trends

John V Willshire is Innovation Officer at PHD Media in London. And he seems to be a good media guy. He created this great presentation on ‘What is Media Planning’. I am usually not a big fan of media planning (see post below). But thanks. That’s interesting John (and to Griffin).

Back to the Future. The Apple Knowledge Navigator.

Mai 24th, 2011 • Experimental, Ideas, Media, Mobile, Tech, Tools
Tags: 1980s, Apple, Brands, Cool, Creativity, Experimental, Future, Ideas, iPad, iPhone, Mobile, products, Tech, Tools, Touch

The following video was filmed in 1987 and stages a conceptual Apple design called the ‘Knowledge Navigator’. It is a concept described by former Apple Computer CEO John Sculley in his 1987 book, Odyssey. It describes a device that can access a large networked database of hypertext information, and use software agents to assist searching for information. Gesture control is included as well.

Apple produced several concept videos showcasing the idea. All of them featured a tablet style computer with numerous advanced capabilities. And I guess it reminds you of something. If you watch closely you will realize this video plays in the year 2010 or 2011…

OMFG. It’s as if Skynet and Satan had a Brood of Soul-Eating Children.

Februar 23rd, 2011 • 2 comments Business, Social
Tags: Adaptation Marketing, Ads, Agencies, Business, Funny, Future, Media, Prediction, predictions, Shit, Social Influence Marketing, Strategy, Trends

Rubbishcorp calls it ‘Officially the most shittest thing I have ever posted on this blog.’ A Youtube commenter replied ‘If you work in marketing, kill yourself. If you made this video, kill yourself twice.’ And who am I to disagree?

‘We are the future’ is a declaration of professional bankruptcy. It is a video about the weird Reality filter that many media agencies use to look at the world (this time it’s the PHD network). It’s about people who believe that other human beings ask for more marketing content. Or – to quote rubbishcorp one more time – ‘it’s a reflection of the views of a bunch of middle aged ad-people about some random technologies that none of them have any actual understanding of.’ And yes, PHD rightfully is getting grilled on the intertubes right now.

If you watch it you will find out that it’s pretty much the video version of ‘Stuff real people don’t say about advertising‘. Only this time it is not meant to be ironic. To finally illustrate my thoughts with one more Youtube comment – ‘Oh jesus, its like skynet and satan had a multicultural brood of consumerist nega-children that eat souls through the innernets.’ Thanks.

Thanks to jkleske for sharing it.