Last week, wandering around Tokyo, I decided to check out what sort of consumer robots were available. I ended up initially finding the Kondo Robo-Spot in Akihabara, where Kondo, a manufacturer of radio controllers and kit robots, has a demonstration facility. The video below shows the robot kicking a ball into a goal, doing pushups […]
I have always said – particularly to those who don’t understand blogging – that blogs are not necessarily important individually, but in aggregate they are massively powerful. The “blogosphere” pulls together what millions of talented people around the world are discovering and thinking. Collectively, blogs enable us to collaborate to filter and uncover the most […]
Are mass media dinosaurs, or rock-solid incumbents that will still rule the roost for decades to come? I was asked to write the “Yes” case to a debate featured in the December issue of Marketing magazine on “Are the days of mass media over?” Below is my case – remember that as a debater you […]
Just back from Japan. The highlight of our two week trip was three days spent in Takaragawa Onsen, which has to be one of the best of the hundreds of hot springs in Japan. It claims to have the largest rotemburo, or outdoor hot spring pool, in the country. It snowed continuously for our three […]
“Add this to the endangered species: blank spaces,” opens an article in today’s New York Times on pervasive advertising. Some of the innovative ways it mentions in how advertising is filling the blank spaces in our environment include: * Eggs in supermarkets are being stamped with CBS TV show titles * US Airways airsick bags […]
Tomorrow I head off to Japan for two weeks with my gorgeous wife Victoria Buckley and lovely four-month old daughter Leda. I lived in Japan 1991-94, and while I returned regularly for a while, I haven’t been there for over six years now. It will be great to get back and see what’s changed, particularly […]
Given it’s festive season now, it’s probably time for a bit of fun. Nowandnext.com and Future Exploration Network have collaborated in producing a map of major trends for 2007 and beyond, across ten segments: society & culture, government & politics, work & business, media & communications, science & technology, food & drink, medicine & well-being, […]
Cameron Reilly of The Podcasting Network fame has just interviewed me for his podcast series G’Day World. The podcast is available here. Some of the things we talked about were: * How senior executives think – or don’t think – about innovation. * The balance of innovation across large organizations and start-ups. * Open innovation […]
Journalists love stories about the latest jobs to get sent offshore. Sharp political debates are launched, fears ignited, and community discussion engaged. However today the story is also about journalists themselves. As described in a recent article in the International Herald Tribune, journalist jobs are increasingly being sent offshore. In the first instance, “back office” […]
I’m currently in Johannesburg, just back from two days in a game park, where one of my clients was holding a board strategy offsite. Here many of the contrasts of a country still in transition are evident. Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994, taking the nation from a history of apartheid into a new-found […]
