Foretaste of The Future: 9 Reasons Why One Polish Company Is The Circle’s Twin Brother
That’s pretty obvious, but: SPOILER ALERT!
First of all, Dear Reader, don’t take the provocative title too seriously.
Or do, it’s up to you.
Second of all, Dear Reader, you’ve read 6 blog posts so far. You got to know Netizens a little bit. But who’s been writing all this? Well, it’s time to finally introduce myself (and the company) properly:
Hi, my name is Weronika and I’m a guppy here at Netizens
Why am I calling myself a guppy? And why did I decide to “reveal” myself just now? And why are we The Circle’s twin brother?
Well, my boss Dave saw “The Circle” (directed by James Ponsoldt, based on Dave Eggers’s novel) last week and it hit him: Netizens is practically
The Circle! But 6 years earlier! He was stunned to find so many references to our company in the movie. And he actually went as far as to compare me to Mae Holland (Gee, is Emma Watson reading this? That’s stressful), the protagonist, who was a guppy at The Circle (this is how the company refers
to newcomers and rookies).
For those of you who have seen the movie and know how it all ended: don’t get alarmed! :) Netizens is not some evil company plotting to take over the world. Nobody makes me stream my life. Nothing gets out of hand. Nothing ends badly. And, most importantly, nobody dies at the end :)
For those who haven’t seen the movie: long story short, it’s a cautionary tale about the dangers of technology. But let’s not delve into the Orwellian vibes and leave them for film critics to analyze. What interests us are the parallels between The Circle and Netizens. And there are plenty of them.
For starters, the main character is a young woman who, to quote IMDb, “lands a dream job at a powerful tech company called the Circle, only to uncover an agenda that will affect the lives of all of humanity.”
So, back to real life: I too landed a dream job at a powerful tech company. But there was no dangerous agenda to uncover, thankfully. But let’s start over…
Guppy times
Hi, I’m Weronika, I’m a guppy here at Netizens (we don’t really have any affectionate nicknames for newbies, so let me just stick to guppy).
I’m a Digital Producer. A Junior Digital Producer, as befits a guppy.
My adventure at Netizens began around 6 months ago. I met my future boss Dave pretty much by accident and he hired me on the spot when he discovered my communication skills and my readiness to take on new challenges.
So, I started at Netizens as an intern in the Innovation Department.
Now, a few words on Netizens: we like to refer to our company as a digital innovation house. Netizens combines software and hardware skills, we have our very own R&D Department on board, and we develop our own products.
In the movie, Mae Holland was lost at first at The Circle. And so was I here at Netizens.
Netizens seemed like such an innovative and technologically advanced company to me. My first thoughts? “What the hell am I doing here? I’m never gonna fit in! What are beacons?! What’s SigFox? And what the heck is Internet of Things? What does front-end mean? Is there a back-end then, too?” (When I look back at the “old me”, I can’t believe how technologically challenged I was…)
With all those questions cropping up, the first couple of days were a bit overwhelming. But with everybody’s support, I soon got comfy at Netizens.
Alright though, enough about me. It’s finally time for the promised analysis of the resemblances between The Circle & Netizens.
The Circle’s Twin Brother
As the movie progresses, more and more similarities arise. We came up with 9 links between The Circle and Netizens. Let’s dive right in! :)
(Seriously though, Dear Reader, please bear in mind at all times that this post is not entirely serious)
1: Workplace
Remember when Annie (Karen Gillan) shows Mae around the campus of The Circle? It’s like a small town, with its own nightclub, salon, clinic… Netizens’ headquarters is based in Katowice, Poland, in a former porcelain factory. This postindustrial space has a bistro, a dentist, a hairdresser… Another similarity? Circlers (employees of The Circle) go to parties and concerts held on the campus on weekends. Guess what? We have that too! After hours, the former porcelain factory turns into a cool party venue. The best part is the night market taking place every Friday in the summer, with food trucks and concerts.
And speaking of concerts and partying, another similarity between Netizens and The Circle: The Circle hosted Beck at one of the parties. This year, Netizens hosted… an Irish dance group! The annual Saint Patrick’s day party is probably everyone's favorite event here at Netizens :)
2. SeeChange — MovStat
Remember when Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks), the CEO at The Circle, introduces SeeChange at Mae’s first Dream Friday? SeeChange is a real time video analytics system. The video footage comes from tiny cameras that can be placed literally anywhere.
Now: remember our post about MovStat, the video analytics system that measures real life? See the resemblance? Ok, our cameras aren’t that tiny. Yet! The Circle, you win this round. For now! We are working on it :)
But just take a look. Resemblance? Uncanny! :)
Another similarity:
But what’s the main difference between SeeChange and MovStat? Video technology at The Circle takes a very alarming turn when Mae starts to wear
a tiny camera to stream her life. MovStat, in turn, respects privacy. Highly.
We analyze anonymous people’s behavior. Remember the creepy “knowing
is good, but knowing everything is better” in ‘The Circle’? We strongly believe in privacy here at Netizens :)
3. Invisible & Cheap As a Pair of Jeans: Video Cameras vs. Beacons
Remember when Eamon Bailey claims SeeChange video cameras will soon be as cheap as a pair of jeans? Our EON Beacons already are! They cost as much as a pair of regular, un-fancy jeans.
Another similarity? SeeChange cameras are practically invisible and can be placed anywhere (glued to a wall, for example). And so can our beacons.
Another thing: SeeChange cameras collect data from the environment. And so do our beacons: for example, they can monitor weather conditions or noise level, making our cities way smarter.
4. ChildTrack vs. Beacon Wearables & App
The Circle’s ChildTrack is a system that places tracking chips in children’s… bones! All this in order to prevent kids from being kidnapped and to easily locate them. Placing something in children’s bones seems really excessive.
To us, a beacon badge is totally enough to keep children safe :) This is why we participated in a project whose goal was to create beacon wearables for kids attending kindergarten, together with a mobile app that allows teachers to monitor children in real time and sends push notifications whenever a child strolls too far away.
5. Monitoring People’s Health — CardioCube
Remember when Annie takes Mae to have her health checked at The Circle? Mae is told to wear a bracelet that constantly monitors her health and sends the data to her doctor in real time.
Monitoring people’s health remotely is already happening in real life, too.
As you probably know, Netizens loves working very closely with startups, medtech startups included. For example, we are CardioCube’s technological partner. This Polish startup provides cloud-based, AI-enabled cognitive computing for treating cardiovascular patients. The patient receives a voice command device that collects live medical data and sends it to their doctor at the hospital, aggregating it with the patient’s full medical record. This allows to reduce the readmission rate significantly, thus saving time
and money.
Actually, the guys from CardioCube are moving in today! We are going to share the office with them for a while. Follow Oskar’s blog on Medium for the upcoming Netizens&CardioCube adventures :)
6: Company Culture: Sharing is Caring!
At The Circle, social life takes quite disturbing forms. Remember this creepy scene where coworkers tell Mae she should share more details of her life and ask her why she didn't participate in the office party the previous weekend? Social life at The Circle is almost obligatory. It feels forced. It resembles a cult.
At Netizens, sharing really is caring. Remember GoodieBox? The app that allows you to appreciate your co-worker with a virtual point that they can later redeem for a gift? Nobody supervises the GoodieCoins we send each other. Nobody approaches the employees, asking “Have you already sent a GoodieCoin today? Where is your team spirit?!” We send GoodieCoins whenever we feel like it. No cult-like pressure whatsoever :)
7. Dream Fridays — Sharing Knowledge Every Monday
Fridays at The Circle are for sharing innovative, groundbreaking ideas with co-workers. Just like Mondays at Netizens: every Monday morning, Krzysiu, our Front end/JavaScript Development Leader, presents the latest programming trends to other developers and shares his knowledge.
Another thing: this fall, we are launching a series of networking brunches for sharing innovative business ideas. Stay tuned! :)
8. Experimenting with Privacy: Carrying a Video Camera Around vs. Carrying a Beacon
Alright, this isn’t exactly the same, but both are interesting social experiments regarding sharing one’s privacy. In the movie, Mae “went transparant” and experimentally streamed her life. Kamil, Junior Innovation Manager at Netizens, an absolute tech geek, experimentally spent a month walking around with a beacon in his backpack. The beacon was broadcasting a “call me” landing page with Kamil’s phone number to nearby smartphones. Thanks to the Physical Web and our close cooperation with the Hungarian startup Beeem, Kamil literally became a walking URL :) His page was visited 3000 times and 16 people dialed his number! We called this the silent influencer :)
9.Ty at The Circle vs. Andrzej at Netizens
Remember the mysterious Ty (John Boyega) at The Circle? He created TrueYou, The Circle’s flagship product.
We’ve got a counterpart here at Netizens. Andrzej, Development and Strategy Director, is the man behind our flagship products :) Few people know this, but Andrzej is actually a shareholder here at Netizens, despite being unusually young, just like Ty.
Ty is very enigmatic. And so is Andrzej. He doesn’t even have his own desk at Netizens. Yet he always keeps an eye on everything :)
Ty is an idealist. And so is Andrzej. For example, he is dedicated to fighting air pollution with Netizens’ Smog or Fog project: an air quality mobile app & air quality sensors.
Actually, you’ve already seen Andrzej in one of our recent blog posts. See the mysterious guy in the background? That’s Andrzej. Keeping an eye on everything, as usual :)
Light and Dark Side of Technology
Ok, from video analytics and telemedicine to Andrzej — uff, we are done with the similarities between Netizens and The Circle.
But you know what one key difference between us is?
Ethics.
Of the lack thereof, in case of The Circle. Disregard for privacy, accumulation of wealth and control, fake transparency used for pushing their agenda… Do I really have to continue?
Netizens, in turn, is the light side of technology :) We have strong work ethics. We use technology to help people.
I guess it’s time for some philosophical reflection now: how not to get carried away with technology? Where’s ethics in all that? How to enjoy technology responsibly? Can humanity use technology in a non-evil way? Does technology lead to the abuse of power?
Whoa, it got serious, right? To end this post in a less serious way, a fun fact: sorry, Dave Eggers and movie creators, but we were here first! :) Netizens was founded as early as in 2007. The book came out in 2013, the movie in 2017. Now let that sink in :)
And one last thing: take a look at the dark and light side of technology,
in person :) Unlike Eamon Bailey, Witek, our CEO, treats his employees with respect. Always :)
Speaking of employees… Hello, we are Netizens! :) 4 software analysts, 11 back end developers, 4 mobile developers, 5 front end developers, 5 embedded engineers, 3 graphic designers, 2 system administrators, 5 project managers, and a loooot more amazing people… And one Junior Digital Producer writing this :)
See you in our next blog post here on Medium.com! :)
