Category: Quick Theories

There’s always an interesting interplay we can analyze between culture and technology. Sometimes it takes a meme movement on Twitter in order to make a technology like AirPods culturally relevant. Other times you need technology like the fax machine in order to change the culture of work-life. And then there’s Instagram. An image engine that… Continue reading Did Instagram really ruin travel? Can the future of tourism be saved?

One of the greatest conundrums of 90s culture was trying to figure out how Cosmo Kramer made a living on Seinfeld. His ability to cook up schemes here and there was laughable and totally unrealistic. Thirty years later, this style of work has become a standard amongst more than 36% of the US population. The… Continue reading Is this the Gig Economy we were promised? And what’s next for the Gig Economy?

A little less than two years ago (October 2017), I was toying around with the idea of a computer therapist. Not a novel idea, by any means. In fact, one of the earliest artificial intelligence programs was a computer therapist named ELIZA – created in 1964. Impressive for the time. Laughable today. However, the language… Continue reading Digital Humans are holding therapy sessions… And patients are responding!

Human health data is the most valuable data we collect and analyze. It’s the only data I can think of that directly impacts the length of a person’s life. While fitness wearables have helped popularize the mass recording of individual, daily health data. Most monitors miss meaningful data – body temperature, blood pressure, blood glucose,… Continue reading Elevating the NBA with biosensors that monitor athletes

Social media platforms have been designed very similarly to casinos. They’re loaded with psychological tricks to keep you around for as long as possible, monetizing your attention all the while. It’s devious, genius, and problematic all at the same time. Aside from people changing their behaviors one at a time, how can we turn around… Continue reading Will the SMART Act change the course of social media forever?

Not too long ago, Forbes created their annual Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. It’s sort of a prediction list for companies that’ll soon join the nearly 400 unicorns (worth a billion dollars). It’s not a proverbial, blind prediction list. All of these companies have some early traction. They’re a reflection of what’s working now. Not necessarily… Continue reading Forbes Predicts the Next Billion-Dollar Companies. Here’s a few they missed