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Thinking Out Loud

Thinking Out Loud: 3D Printing

Another installation in the “Thinking Out Loud” trend speculation series!

Summary

With the advancement of the technology to make in-house production more cost-effective, personal 3D printing will also become more prevalent. When consumers have the capacity to produce anything made of plastics in their own homes, the face of retail will change.

Implications

3D printing has the potential to shift the entire retail and consumables paradigm. Imagine Christmas shopping online, but instead of waiting for your toddler’s toys to be shipped to your house, you print them out on-demand. Ice scraper emergency? Fixed. Or imagine the medical supply industry: hospitals no longer need to coordinate shipments of certain disposable supplies, they can simply purchase the schematic for the product and print one whenever it’s needed. Hospitals may find that they no longer need vast storage spaces, and retail establishments will find that their shelves are empty and their customers are all online.

Impact

3D printing could completely change the way we shop once personal 3D printers are made both cost effective and sufficiently capable. Revolutionary “maker-spaces” like Proto Build Bar are turning 3D printing into a collaborative, social experience. This is extremely cool technology that has applications in the medical field, personal expression, product development, aerospace, and everything in between. From business use to personal use, 3D printers are universally awesome, and are here to stay.

Thinking Out Loud: American Bicycle Culture

Imagine pedaling straight through rush-hour traffic, reducing your carbon footprint, and staying fit atop your commuter bicycle. Don’t have one? Businesses like Divvy will likely provide solutions for non-bicycle-owners in major metropolitan areas. Cities will be equipped with better cycling facilities; with added bicycle lanes, racks, and considerations for cyclists like lockers, public changing areas, and hydration facilities.

Bicycling has been essential in many European cities for a long time, but the United States has obviously preferred the personal auto. The activities of metropolitan areas across the nation, from major cities like Chicago to smaller ones like Dayton, Ohio suggest, however, that things might be changing. Bicycling.com rates the top bicycle-friendly cities, a commendation happily received as a point of pride, and suggesting that perhaps we’ll be sharing our roads with cyclists more frequently.

My love for cycling was rekindled a few years ago when I misplaced the keys to my car (rest assured, I eventually found them under the couch), and resorted to bicycling everywhere I needed to go. In the beginning, there were a lot of kinks to work out- how do I cycle in a suit? where do the groceries go?- but I eventually started figuring it out, and started to love my morning and evening commute. I found the cycling community to be full of awesome and welcoming people.

There’s something about being on top of a bike that makes everything seem just a little better, brighter, and nicer, so I hope this trend sticks around.

Thinking Out Loud: Unified Financial Identity

This is the first post in a series of speculative articles on emerging and recent trends, called Thinking Out Loud. Enjoy!

Summary

As net and cloud based technologies develop, companies and banking institutions will move away from physical currency and payment methods and towards a unified, social-security-number-styled personal identifier for customers. Whether this personal identifier is memorized, integrated into mobile devices (like Apple Pay), tied to a service (e.g., Google Wallet), or embedded in an implantable RFID chip, a person and their financial identity will be inseparable.

Implications

This trend has the potential to revolutionize several industries, similar to the way Bitcoin is revolutionizing net currency. In areas where Bitcoin is used, international boundaries are eliminated. Persons in Europe are able to seamlessly perform commerce with customers in the Americas without the need to consider exchange rates and using a common, international currency. Similarly, a unique financial identifier could level the playing field, eliminate cash transactions, and dramatically increase the need for net security. Stick-em-up style robberies (in banks and stores) will be virtually eliminated, but will be replaced with other, and more sophisticated, financial crimes. Currently, identity theft is extremely prevalent. Once the trend towards a unified, unique financial identity tied irrevocably to a person’s very existence begins, identity theft becomes a much more serious problem. Alongside the development of the technology to support this unified financial identity, there will be a massive boom in businesses based on private net identity protection. Net security brands will cooperate with businesses and individual users to promote their particular flavor of identity and transaction protection.

Impacts

For commerce- and financially-based transactional businesses, movement towards this new payment system will mean an increased demand for recognizable net security brands. Outside of the technology used to facilitate this new transaction methodology, businesses will likely need to partner with net security providers. For small businesses, a proprietary system will likely be insufficient since identity pirates will be able to overcome net security measures with near-viral efficiency. Dedicated cyber security businesses will likely be the only ones capable of preventing and fixing fraud. This partnership will likely come at an expense to small businesses, something that small business owners should plan for in their long-range business pro forma.

Update:

The future is here:

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2881178/office-complex-implants-rfid-chips-in-employees-hands.html

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