Comments on: Living in the future http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/ Eric Nehrlich, Unrepentant Generalist Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:24:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Law of Attraction – Are you Living in the Future? | Darel Philip http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-384670 Law of Attraction – Are you Living in the Future? | Darel Philip Tue, 10 May 2011 12:49:53 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/#comment-384670 [...] www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/ [...] [...] http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/ [...]

]]> By: Libraries in a Transliterate, Technology Fluent World #intlib10 | Librarian by Day http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-362854 Libraries in a Transliterate, Technology Fluent World #intlib10 | Librarian by Day Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:52:29 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/#comment-362854 [...] Living in the future [...] [...] Living in the future [...]

]]> By: “Sometimes I forget that my world is not the mainstream” « tejiendo redes http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-170752 “Sometimes I forget that my world is not the mainstream” « tejiendo redes Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:33:28 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/#comment-170752 [...] “Sometimes I forget that my world is not the mainstream” Saltar a Comentarios Es importante recordar de vez en cuando eso para no perder el eje. Eric Nehrlich lo tiene claro y pl... [...] [...] “Sometimes I forget that my world is not the mainstream” Saltar a Comentarios Es importante recordar de vez en cuando eso para no perder el eje. Eric Nehrlich lo tiene claro y pl… [...]

]]> By: Eric http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-163580 Eric Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:49:14 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/#comment-163580 Wow. I should write ill-thought-out off-the-cuff blog posts more often - lot of great responses here. Beemer: Yes, I perhaps should have said "Living in _a_ future", as <a href=http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2004/01/26/talk-by-paul-saffo/ rel="nofollow">Paul Saffo</a> might. Wes: Josakana points out that, among other things, my geographically distributed friend network means my ecological footprint is crazy big due to jet flights. Also, it's unclear that the resources necessary to support a techno-centric lifestyle are indefinitely sustainable i.e. it's probably not possible to get everybody in India and/or China up to a similar standard of living. Seppo: Life would be much cooler in <a href=http://abcfamily.go.com/middleman rel="nofollow">comic book world</a>. And good observation about the <a href=http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2007/08/20/transmedia-conversations/ rel="nofollow">transmedia conversations</a> that the younger generation has as a matter of course. Jessie: Yeah, it's not a very good analysis. And good point about other cultures, which was also a point Jofish brought up. Wow. I should write ill-thought-out off-the-cuff blog posts more often – lot of great responses here.

Beemer: Yes, I perhaps should have said “Living in _a_ future”, as Paul Saffo might.

Wes: Josakana points out that, among other things, my geographically distributed friend network means my ecological footprint is crazy big due to jet flights. Also, it’s unclear that the resources necessary to support a techno-centric lifestyle are indefinitely sustainable i.e. it’s probably not possible to get everybody in India and/or China up to a similar standard of living.

Seppo: Life would be much cooler in comic book world. And good observation about the transmedia conversations that the younger generation has as a matter of course.

Jessie: Yeah, it’s not a very good analysis. And good point about other cultures, which was also a point Jofish brought up.

]]> By: Jessie http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-163555 Jessie Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:31:11 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/#comment-163555 The weakness in this analysis is that it's very technology specific. For instance, how do you compare your iPhone'd community to the countries like India and China where cell phones are ubiquitous because of, not in spite of, the lack of infrastructure? (Indy will be willing to talk your ear off about that this weekend.) Or to the profoundly old-school, non-geeky business travelers who HAVE TO turn on their bluetooth headsets as the plane hits the runway? Like Beemer said, there are multiple "leading edges" but that at least as much cultural as it is technological. The weakness in this analysis is that it’s very technology specific. For instance, how do you compare your iPhone’d community to the countries like India and China where cell phones are ubiquitous because of, not in spite of, the lack of infrastructure? (Indy will be willing to talk your ear off about that this weekend.) Or to the profoundly old-school, non-geeky business travelers who HAVE TO turn on their bluetooth headsets as the plane hits the runway? Like Beemer said, there are multiple “leading edges” but that at least as much cultural as it is technological.

]]> By: Wes Carroll http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-163552 Wes Carroll Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:08:57 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/#comment-163552 Josakana, You have stated that Eric's friends are superlatively selfish and resource consuming. Now please argue the point, as you promised to, by supporting the statement. Also, please suggest a solution: which of the behaviors in which Eric's friends participate should change, and how? Wes Josakana,

You have stated that Eric’s friends are superlatively selfish and resource consuming. Now please argue the point, as you promised to, by supporting the statement.

Also, please suggest a solution: which of the behaviors in which Eric’s friends participate should change, and how?

Wes

]]> By: Jonathan http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-163528 Jonathan Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:04:39 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/#comment-163528 Eric, while most of your friends use a Mac, very few of mine do, at least that I know about.. instead we run Ubuntu, Fedora, and know how to build our own (desktop) pc, and install our own os. Until I can try (at the same cost of trying Ubuntu) the Mac OS for my Lenovo thinkpad.. I've got zero interest in the mac.. Apple's products are nicely designed.. but I'm much more a fan of the Woz than Jobs.. -- and companies HAVE to conserve some of their resources or else their is no Chasm to cross, and no tornado following to build the Gorilla.. -- I wonder if thats all just an artifact of proprietary standards? Will "open" and the "long tail" decrease the "mass market" effect? THAT would be a big change! jbd Eric,
while most of your friends use a Mac, very few of mine do, at least that I know about..
instead we run Ubuntu, Fedora, and know how to build our own (desktop) pc, and install our own os. Until I can try (at the same cost of trying Ubuntu) the Mac OS for my Lenovo thinkpad.. I’ve got zero interest in the mac.. Apple’s products are nicely designed.. but I’m much more a fan of the Woz than Jobs..
– and companies HAVE to conserve some of their resources or else their is no Chasm to cross, and no tornado following to build the Gorilla..
– I wonder if thats all just an artifact of proprietary standards? Will “open” and the “long tail” decrease the “mass market” effect? THAT would be a big change!
jbd

]]> By: seppo http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-163521 seppo Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:28:59 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/#comment-163521 Two thoughts: 1.) proximity, 2.) Batman 1.) "Another example of an issue I face that may not ever cross the chasm is keeping track of a geographically distributed set of friends. It seems perfectly natural to me to still be in touch with college friends scattered across the country, but I wonder if that’s as much of an issue for others." I think in the future, it will be substantially more common to have a geographically distributed set of friends. I think the thing that's enabled people to keep these networks open remotely is almost entirely technological - the presence of the internet, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blah blah blah. It really is all, "out of sight, out of mind," and if out of mind long enough, the friendships fade. So, the solutions are to keep all the plates of friendship spinning - they don't need to be "restarted" anymore because your friends still retain some peripheral awareness of you all the time. Thing is, in the younger set, this is already an ingrained part of the way they behave. (I don't think this is the result of living at least to some respect in one of these "future bubbles", but I could be wrong.) They already leverage a lot of the available technology (IM, SMS, Twitter, blah blah blah) to keep in touch even when they're *not* geographically divided, which makes the times when they *are* geographically divided a lot easier to deal with. My wife's little brother is here now, and he's still getting SMS messages and calls from his friends as though he were still at home. When I used to visit my cousin in Canada when I was his age, for all practical purposes, I was completely off the radar for a month or more at a time. That never happens to the lil' bro. 2.) re: Bats - when you write a sentence like that, without context, unfamiliar readers will think you not only live in the future, but in comic books. Who calls "their friend Batman" for house repairs? "Hey, Robin - hand me the bat-wrench!" Two thoughts:

1.) proximity, 2.) Batman

1.) “Another example of an issue I face that may not ever cross the chasm is keeping track of a geographically distributed set of friends. It seems perfectly natural to me to still be in touch with college friends scattered across the country, but I wonder if that’s as much of an issue for others.”

I think in the future, it will be substantially more common to have a geographically distributed set of friends. I think the thing that’s enabled people to keep these networks open remotely is almost entirely technological – the presence of the internet, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blah blah blah. It really is all, “out of sight, out of mind,” and if out of mind long enough, the friendships fade.

So, the solutions are to keep all the plates of friendship spinning – they don’t need to be “restarted” anymore because your friends still retain some peripheral awareness of you all the time.

Thing is, in the younger set, this is already an ingrained part of the way they behave. (I don’t think this is the result of living at least to some respect in one of these “future bubbles”, but I could be wrong.) They already leverage a lot of the available technology (IM, SMS, Twitter, blah blah blah) to keep in touch even when they’re *not* geographically divided, which makes the times when they *are* geographically divided a lot easier to deal with.

My wife’s little brother is here now, and he’s still getting SMS messages and calls from his friends as though he were still at home. When I used to visit my cousin in Canada when I was his age, for all practical purposes, I was completely off the radar for a month or more at a time. That never happens to the lil’ bro.

2.) re: Bats – when you write a sentence like that, without context, unfamiliar readers will think you not only live in the future, but in comic books. Who calls “their friend Batman” for house repairs?

“Hey, Robin – hand me the bat-wrench!”

]]> By: josakana http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-163502 josakana Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:42:00 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/#comment-163502 I would argue that your friends are the most selfish and resource consuming people on the planet, and if more people lived like them we'd be even closer to global ecological collapse overnight. That may not be caused by using Mac books at a "conference of leading thinkers", but it's hard for me to go along with your happy joyous success story of successfully living in the future with your similarly happy joyous successful friends. I would argue that your friends are the most selfish and resource consuming people on the planet, and if more people lived like them we’d be even closer to global ecological collapse overnight.

That may not be caused by using Mac books at a “conference of leading thinkers”, but it’s hard for me to go along with your happy joyous success story of successfully living in the future with your similarly happy joyous successful friends.

]]> By: Beemer http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-163498 Beemer Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:03:18 +0000 http://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2008/07/04/living-in-the-future/#comment-163498 I think the thing you're missing in the first part of this post is that there are multiple leading edges. The reason that companies don't presciently invest in upcoming technologies is because the future fingers out from the mainstream in many directions, forming hundreds of different tendrils of future, and it's difficult to see which ones are going to grow ("cross the chasm", as you say), which will shrink, and which will just hang around as subcultural pockets. I think the thing you’re missing in the first part of this post is that there are multiple leading edges. The reason that companies don’t presciently invest in upcoming technologies is because the future fingers out from the mainstream in many directions, forming hundreds of different tendrils of future, and it’s difficult to see which ones are going to grow (“cross the chasm”, as you say), which will shrink, and which will just hang around as subcultural pockets.

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