Elon University

Archives: Expert Predictions

Being Digital: A Book (P)review

The digital haves and have-nots will be less concerned with race or wealth and more concerned (if anything) with age. Developing nations will leapfrog the telecommunications infrastructures of the First World and become more wired (and wireless). We once moaned about the demographics of the world. But all of a sudden we must ask ourselves: Considering two countries with roughly the same population, Germany and Mexico, is it really so good that less than half of all Germans are under 40 and so bad that more than half of all Mexicans are under 20? Which of those nations will benefit first from “being digital”?

Being Digital: A Book (P)review

Being digital is positive. It can flatten organizations, globalize society, decentralize control, and help harmonize people in ways beyond not knowing whether you are a dog. In fact, there is a parallel … between open and closed systems and open and closed societies … The nation-state may go away. And the world benefits when people are able to compete with imagination rather than rank.

Being Digital: A Book (P)review

We are clueless about the ownership of bits. Copyright law will disintegrate … Bits are bits indeed. But what they cost, who owns them, and how we interact with them are all up for grabs.

Being Digital: A Book (P)review

The entire economic model of telecommunications – based on charging per minute, per mile, or per bit – is about to fall apart. As human-to-human communications become increasingly asynchronous, time will be meaningless (five hours of music will be delivered to you in less than five seconds). Distance is irrelevant: New York to London is only five miles further than New York to Newark via satellite.

Power Pundit: Super Analyst/Consultant George ‘Golden Guts’ Colony Delivers Some Really Educated Guesses

I think that for most Wired readers, the golden years are over. [Laughs.] I mean, the little club that they had called the Internet. The little club, all the cute little faces they made [Emoticons]. It’s over. It’s done. Your club is about to be invaded. It’s about to be totally changed. And your snooty little view of the world and “aren’t-I-cool” sentiments are about to go crashing down on your ears. That’ll piss a lot of people off, but that’s good! And I say, Good riddance to the old Internet.

Power Pundit: Super Analyst/Consultant George ‘Golden Guts’ Colony Delivers Some Really Educated Guesses

The information highway is going to be founded by what we call creative divergence. The companies that are going to make it are the kind of classical, venture capital, little start-ups. It’s not going to be the big, dumb RBOCs, Microsofts, Intels that dominate the future. The mergers are nothing, they’re only about corporate ego. Shareholders will be left holding the bag in this. Synergy is nothing but an excuse for the exercise of corporate ego. There’s no synergy! Synergies don’t exist.

Power Pundit: Super Analyst/Consultant George ‘Golden Guts’ Colony Delivers Some Really Educated Guesses

In the future, companies will give you stuff. For instance, Domino’s might give you a little machine with two buttons: pizza with cheese, pizza with pepperoni. You throw it on top of your refrigerator and you come home late at night. You’re so lazy you won’t even make a phone call – you press one button! There’s a cellular modem connected by cellular digital packet data, a new standard for sending data over cell lines to the cellular data network, back to Domino’s. Fifteen minutes later, there’s a pizza.