MIT Media Lab Logo
Joi Ito, the Director of the MIT Media Lab, did a piece on Google Think about the four trends he sees for 2013, which are listed below:
- Hardware as the new software "Supply chain provider companies are making the cost of manufacturing [hardware] and risk really, really small.." There is much new hardware being developed, much of it open source. I expect that this will produce many appcessories. Appcessories are peripherals attached physically or through wifi to tablets to capture data (sensors) or to create new experiences. Very big opportunity.
- Gene Printing "Bio-fabricating genes using something called a 'CMOS' chip, which basically allows him to print genes using machines instead of people". Biology is not my field but the idea of using CMOS chips is logical. CMOS chips are the special purpose chips that you find in your car for example.
- Life Long Learning"It has always been my [Ito] opinion that 'education' is something people do to you, whereas 'learning' is something you do for yourself." My thoughts on life long learning are here. Lifelong learning is perhaps the most important lesson to learn from schooling.
- Survival of the Quickest "You want to have your peripherals wide open and adapt as quickly as you can. I think that will be an important survival trait of people and companies in the future." The abundance and speed of information has been a recurring theme here at SF.The implications for the management of organizations is an under appreciated point. A post I like on that theme is here.
If I do a post for the future of 2013 I may write about this relationship:
perception--language--knowledge--understanding--learning
Actually ties together 3 out of 4 of Ito's themes.