We are now into the global stage of humanity’s evolution.  When viewed over the span of the past 10,000 years it is clear that we have moved from tribe to village to city, to state, to country to planet.  In speeches I give around the country I discuss this “Flow to Global” as one of the forces currently reshaping and restructuring the world.

This reorganization into a global economy and market place has, can, and will cause pain at the local level.  Industrial Age manufacturing businesses in this country have been moved offshore to lower cost countries.  Call centers open in India and the Philippines. As individuals we have to understand our economic value is increasingly measured on the global stage.  Unfortunately, our political leaders seem to be reactive and pander to those in pain rather than provide new direction. What can local communities do to stay robust, promote community and still be a part of this global trend? 

Great Barrington, Massachusetts has come up with an answer that is creative, fun and sounds like it might actually work.  This town is in the Berkshire Mountains.  A number of local businesses have agreed to accept an alternative currency called BerkShares and to give a discount of ten percent to those who use them.  These alternative bills have different people on them than the dead presidents and statesmen on US currency.  Herman Melville is on the twenty, Norman Rockwell on the fifty, Robyn Wan En a champion of locally supported agriculture is on …

In an earlier post, I wrote that the cell phone was a transformative technology. The cell phone, the personal computer, and the Internet are the three most transformative technologies of the last twenty years, as they have altered the fundamental concepts of time and space as it relates to human communication.

The interesting current phenomenon is that the growth rates of cell phone usage in developing countries is now rivaling the growth rates experienced in developed countries during the 1990s.  As I mentioned in the earlier post there are 6 million new subscribers a month in India and 5.25 million a month in China.  Of course in the case of these two countries that does not just mean people moving from land lines to cell phones.  It also means people having phones for the first time. 

It was announced the other day that 1 billion cell phones were sold in 2006, the first time that has ever happened.  Nokia lead the pack with 300 million sold, and also achieved a quarterly milestone of 100 million sold in the last quarter of the year.  Given that there are 6 billion people in the world and a large number of them are either children under 10 or live in extreme poverty these numbers are amazing.  One of the reasons of course is that cell phones have become a commodity.

When Motorola began selling the first cell phone in the U.S, the DynaTac, often referred to as the brick, it cost $4,000, which at that …

This is the second week in a row of attending an important convention in Las Vegas. Last week was the largest consumer electronic convention, CES.  This week a Television convention that is in its forty-fourth year and which, for the past two decades has been very important and influential, NATPE..  Last week a convention about the screens, this week a convention about delivery methods and the content. 

The way forward can bee seen, at least in the realm of media and its consumption and how our lives have changed, by looking at these two conventions.  My thoughts on the CES show were in this post and this one.  Clearly technology and connectivity is allowing us to consume content and access information in new and transformative ways.

A look at NATPE clearly shows how much the world has changed.  Ten years ago this conference was all about Television.  Programming , scheduling, new TV technology, governmental issues and International deal making were the topics at the conference sessions.  This year there are some sixty different sessions, speeches and panels.  A quick look at the subject matter reveals the huge changes in the industry.  There are some 15 sessions on the subject of mobile, 12 sessions on ‘multi-platforms’ 10 sessions on the Internet or IPTV and 5 on the technology of distribution across the new media landscape.  Simply put, more than two thirds of all sessions were about subjects other than the traditional television business.  Ten years ago ninety-five percent of the sessions …

This week at the Consumer Electronics Show there are hundreds of companies touting new gadgets that are “revolutionary” “innovative” “at the cutting edge” and “totally cool”.  I will leave the descriptions of all these to the mainstream media as they already excessively cover this convention.  Instead I will give you some view on the larger trends that are clear.

Connectivity

We are rapidly moving to total connectedness. Whether you are in the office, in the home, on the road, or anywhere in the world you can be connected to information, data and billions of people.    Bill Gates spoke of the fact that the home is soon going to be completely connected.  Computers, televisions, phones, everything in the home will be connected.  Ed Zander, Chairman of Motorola spoke about the home as being a hub of “seamless technology” and that mobile devices provide “seamless mobility” wherever we are in the world.  Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia speaks of “a world where everyone can be connected” and of “mobility, interconnectivity, community and convenience” 

Compare how much more connected you are now than you were 10 years ago. That is how much more you will be connected in 3-5 years than you are today.  How we use that connectivity is up to us and is the human variable in the equation.  Technology is providing us with connectivity that twenty years ago was only imagined in science fiction and in the minds of a few visionary futurists.

Availability

We are moving toward a world where practically every type of …

In my last post I listed four General Trends and Dynamics that would gain power in this New Year.  The third one listed was the about alternative energy and Global Warming.  The fact that we reached a tipping point on this in 2006 will become much clearer this year.  It will be a dominant story, a forceful change in consciousness, a political/security issue, and both an economic issue and an incredible economic opportunity. 

In the first week of the year, while poor Denver continues to get blasted with snow, most of the rest of the country experienced spring weather.  Cherry blossoms in Washington D.C., people running in shorts in New York, and golf courses open for the first time in January.  Twenty years ago, Global Warming was an arcane concept understood only by ardent environmentalists, today it is a personal experience for all of us.  That was the first week of January. 

The second week of January brings us the Detroit Auto Show, the most important auto show in the US.  GM announced that it would launch a unique hybrid car.  Yes, the company accused of ‘killing the electric car’ announced that they would produce the Chevrolet Volt.  In addition they announced they were developing a hybrid plug-in version of the Saturn Vue Green Line. The obvious questions are how fast the automotive behemoth can bring these models to market, in what volume and at what price.  I submit that the survival of GM is in great part dependent on how …