In my endless pursuit to understand the latest culture and insights, I might be guilty of leaving a few hundred or so open browser tabs languishing on my desktop from time to time. Despite my best attempts at cataloging everything, where does all this valuable information go? I know these digital hoarding behaviors are tempting fate (Believe me, I still feel the pangs of regret from my most recent browser crash) but I swear I’m going to get around to reading the latest treatise on the underlying societal factors driving cottagecore one of these days. Needless to say, it makes me happy to unburden myself on your behalf. I hope you enjoy the latest round of links to tabs I've kept open:
Is That Musk You’re Wearing?
Between having one of his companies listed on the S&P 500, shouting out meme stocks like Gamestop and obscure cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin, and literally shouting on invite-only social network du jour, Clubhouse, it’s certainly been an eventful start to 2021 for Elon Musk. He’s already proven that his big swings can upend markets and mint money so why stop there?
In a move that simultaneously legitimizes and increases speculation in a wildly fluctuating market, Tesla disclosed the purchase of $1.5B in bitcoin sending the currency soaring past all-time highs. The company also announced that in the future, it may accept the cryptocurrency as payment for its vehicles.
As space once again asserts itself as the place. SpaceX has widened the scope of the public beta test of its Starlink satellite internet service. What’s more, early adopters hoping to be among the first to flirt with the cosmos from the comfort of their couch can drop $99 to preorder.
Use Your Illusion I & II
According to some theories, there’s at least a 50% chance that we’re all living inside of a simulation, which goes a long way in explaining many of my past style choices. Regardless of what you choose to believe, we’re approaching a strange moment in AI’s ascendance when computer-generated versions of reality are getting harder and harder to decipher from the real thing. This shift opens up exciting possibilities in creativity and equally scary ones in terms of manipulating the truth.
Epic, the company best known for its ever-expanding game platform Fortnite, has released a new feature called the MetaHuman Creator for its Unreal Engine that allows anyone to create a photorealistic digital human in a matter of minutes, a process that previously took several weeks or more. And you thought This Person Does Not Exist was shocking.
Maybe whipping up humans from scratch is less your thing. Too many rules and not enough improvisation. Perhaps we can interest you in OpenAI’s latest project, DALL·E, a neural network that instantly creates a range of representative visuals from a simple text prompt instead, with the promise that you’ll never have to endlessly scroll through stock imagery catalog ever again.
The Great Tech (Un)bundling
Despite all that’s been written about Big Tech’s moment of reckoning, any meaningful regulation appears to still be pending. While some of the recent moves to moderate bad actors and their content have been commendable, they also feel a bit late in the game. Not to mention the fact that they’re not addressing the power imbalances these companies enjoy over the marketplace and their users.
When it comes to the relative goodness or badness of social networks, Twitter seems to fit most squarely in the Chaotic Neutral camp. They’re certainly trying stuff, but it’s never crystal clear who stands to benefit the most in the end. While on the surface, Jack Dorsey’s desire to create a decentralized platform that is governed by a marketplace of algorithms, which users can freely choose from, rather than a singular one created by a company, seems like an exciting way to expand the content and experience for everyone, it might also protect Twitter from future regulation. Specifically, Section 230, the recent target of some lawmakers, which protects companies from being held responsible for the user-generated content published on their sites.
Too much autonomy and sway, you say? The state of Nevada seems to be taking the opposite approach in an effort to boost the local economy. The governor plans to introduce legislation that would create “Innovation Zones” with a number of eyebrow-raising incentives to encourage tech companies to set up shop in the desert. Under the proposal, companies would have the option to form local governments with the same powers and responsibilities as counties.
All-Inclusive Access
To say we live in an able-bodied environment and society is perhaps an obvious statement. The world as constructed is simply not built to accommodate the needs of everyone, however, that is changing, albeit incrementally. A recent segment from On The Media reminds us that many of the conveniences we all enjoy today (think cut-outs at the end of curbs) are the result of the tireless efforts of women and men who recognized that the status quo wasn’t working for them and needed to be improved upon, which leads to the inevitable conclusion that most of the time, good design is good for everyone. Coming out of a pandemic feels like a perfect time to fix what’s broken.
After popular TikToker, Jimmy Choi, who has Parkinson’s Disease posted a video that showed his daily struggles with pill bottles due to hand tremors, the site’s community came together to solve the problem. Utilizing digital design software and 3D printers, the group produced a series of new pill bottle designs to overcome Choi’s challenges. Each prototype was shared with Choi for feedback and refinement, resulting in a nearly finalized design, which is being open-sourced for others to use and improve upon.
Sneakers have undergone constant evolution to ascend to their place as a defining symbol of fashion and culture. However, most of those transformations have been purely aesthetic and the general form and function have remained the same. Sure, laces briefly gave way to the satisfying sounds of velcro for a time but stepping into and securing our kicks is an act that most of us take for granted once we’ve mastered the subtle art of the rabbit jumping through hoops. For many though, putting on a pair of shoes is a challenge. Nike hands-free GO FlyEase trainer is the company’s latest attempt to create accessible, high-design footwear for the 100%.
That’s all the tabs I have right now. If you can’t wait 2 weeks until we next email you, catch me and the PSFK team at the Future of Retail 2021 Sessions — a free to attend, virtual conference on February 25th : RetailInnovationWeek.com/FoR21
-Scott
President, Research and Strategy, PSFK
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What we are working on at PSFK
1/ We are busy preparing for our next event, Future of Retail 2021. We will be joined by leaders from Bain & Co., Brooks Running, L’Oréal, LiveNation, Pandora, Maserati, Sonae, Vans/VFC and Wawa to discuss the topic of ‘Retail Resilience.’ You can join PSFK and our friends from Suzy during the free two hour event on Feb 25. RSVP for free HERE.
2/ Scott and his design & consulting teams have completed a Store of the Future concepting program for a major home and garden brand and their big-box retail partners. Ping hello@psfk.com to find out more.
