11th August 2018
The Church of the Apple Store. How Apple escaped from the doldrums of Sears to create the coolest retail space on planet Earth. ‘They’re supplying spiritual access to Apple, and they do it in a way that’s akin to great religious brands. The soaring interior spaces, filled with light and air, are cathedral-like in themselves. The rows of wooden tables function as pews where, instead of praying, visitors interact with Apple products. The central feature of many stores is the run of plate-glass steps. It’s like a stairway to heaven.’
There is still a disconnect between where users spend their time and where advertisers spend their money. From Adweek – ‘It’s time for brands to stop ignoring the mobile gaming market. By 2020, it’s expected there will be 213 million smartphone gamers.’
From The Washington Post. ‘Prosperity begets prosperity: On a global level, economists and historians have shown that places that prospered 100, 500, even 1,000 years ago tend to be more economically developed today. This is how 2,000 year old roads predict modern day prosperity.’
It’s taken years of work and billions of dollars in venture funding to build a working mixed-reality headset for developers. From MIT; Magic Leap’s headset is real, but that may not be enough.
‘Technology isn’t an industry, it’s a method of transforming the culture and economics of existing systems and institutions.’ Nice piece on, understanding technology today.
From Wired. ‘This is how China will beast the West in the race for deadly A.I weapons.’ To avoid this – ‘The (West’s) industries will have to cooperate very strongly and very closely with the military and they will have to exchange their intellectual property with each other. A scenario which, for the time being, seems unlikely.’
How Iceland is becoming the hot supermarket for millennials. ‘The supermarket’s commitment to replace plastic with sustainable packaging on own brand products by 2023 – or “put a freeze on plastics”, as Iceland put it – is backed by Greenpeace who also endorsed Iceland’s decision to ban palm oil from its products.’ This is how the frozen food giant has moved on from the Kerry Katona years.
From Wired – ‘Spare change is dying, and the UK’s homeless people are worried…Using card readers might actually backfire, given how the adoption of technology is widely regarded as out of character for the homeless, but alternatives are being worked on. One example is Giving Streets , an app which integrates PayPal and blockchain technology via a QR reader, in the hopes of automating passing donations.’
I’d like to mention a charity I support, African Parks, which is particularly relevant ahead of World Elephant Day on 12th August. Zakouma National Park in Chad, is a place with a troubled past. Between 2002 to 2010 approximately 4,000 elephants were killed for their ivory, and only 450 remained. Under new tutelage, illegal activity has drastically been reduced (only 24 known elephants have been poached in the last eight years) and safety has been restored. Recently, the population has been announced at a stable and growing 559 elephants.
Where’s the fun in this? There’s Waldo is a robot that finds Waldo.