What’s coming — and what does it take to be ready for the future?
Blinking, moving, and shifting lights are about to take on a more prominent place in modern life, and here are two developments I didn’t see coming. . . . (read more)
The James Cameron movie Avatar was successful largely because of an unprecedented two-year research effort that defined both the story line and the visuals for the movie. Avatar’s unprecedented success has persuaded Hollywood of the value of research . . . (read more)
With so much content available now, you’re going to need the help of technology, of what theorists have called “intelligent agents,” to get through it all. And I’m not just talking about spam filters. . . . (read more)
A court ruled this month that Pink Floyd’s record deal with EMI did not entitle the record label to sell all of the band’s songs as singles. This is a ruling that is likely to affect the entire music industry. . . . (read more)
DVD movie sales are declining, and were actually less than movie theater box office totals in the United States in 2009 . . . (read more)
Energy is controlled by big companies, many of them monopolies. It’s delivered over wires, in pipes, or on heavy trucks, because it’s too inefficient to deal with on a smaller scale. But this is going to change. . . . (read more)
Recent observations of water on the surface of the moon tell us that water is not the rare property of Earth-like planets and comets, as was previously thought. Instead, we find that water is one most common chemical compounds in the universe. . . . (read more)
Advances in music performance video games are blurring the line between game performance and musical performance. . . . (read more)
The main focus of philosophy in the 21st century will be focus. . . . (read more)
Most mobile phone users pay for most of their usage on a subscription plan. It’s simple: stay within the plan limits, and you pay the same amount every month. But there is a simpler approach to cell phone use that is becoming more popular now. That’s the prepaid cell phone . . . (read more)
For a third of a century, ISBNs in numeric and bar-code forms have been obligatory for any book sold to the public. Now that run is about to end. . . . (read more)
Social networking is booming — but here are three recent signs that hint that the trend can’t last forever. . . . (read more)
The last popular uses of film in photography are going away. . . . (read more)
The distinction between still cameras and video cameras is slowly disappearing. . . . (read more)
Mail used to be what ties the world together. Now you could go for a week without checking your mail . . . (read more)
E-mail is moving rapidly from the open Internet to the comparatively safe environs of social network web sites. . . . (read more)
I’m converting my audio cassettes to CDs — before it’s too late. . . . (read more)
It’s not a new issue. Ever since televisions got remote controls with mute buttons . . . (read more)