Introducing, Tech Trends!
This is a new, daily report, designed to help you discover and capitalize on the tech trends that matter.
Optimism is an essential ingredient of innovation. How else can the individual welcome change over security, adventure over staying in safe places? — Robert Noyce, Co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel
Today’s Issue:
Crypto, AR, Snap, and Mo’ R&D
Let’s get into it!
Leadership & Culture
The Netflix document on culture, team building, leadership, and processes is incredible. You can read it here.
Design & Software
The design magazine Casa Brutus has an exclusive interview with Jonathan Ive about the new iPhone X. It’s an excellent reminder about the importance of long term thinking, as many of the features just now being implemented have been 10 years in the works.
Cryptography & Security
WTF is up with with Bitcoin?!
Bitcoin has jumped ~$2,800 since the beginning of October, with a lot of that increase coming from just the past week! So what’s been going on?
The price gains have been driven by the announcement from Chicago-based CME, the world’s largest exchange operator, that it will begin offering bitcoin futures contracts in Q4 ’17. While some are skeptical of this move, comparing it to the tech or housing bubble, many others are excited about it, and even looking forward to future offerings that could come, such as ETFs. Soon after CME’s announcement, Argentina’s largest futures market, Rofex, announced it was also considering offering Bitcoin futures. Over the next few weeks, we could see a few others jumping into this space.
With all this great news making bitcoin more, “official”, why does there still seem to be looming uncertainty? One big piece is around the upcoming hardfork, SegWit2x. Anything called a “fork” or “split” sounds complicated to begin with, but the battle circles around three key issues: where the transaction fees will flow (on or off the chain), whether to increase the block size, and which coin will be the official “bitcoin” once the split occurs. On one side of the table, you have the bitcoin miners, who want to move forward with the hardfork, because increasing the block size will mean more money can go to the miners from on-chain transactions. Opposition to the hardfork can be heard loudest from the company Blockstream, whose revenue comes from off-chain transactions (enabled by the SegWit fork in the summer) that flow through their proprietary service.
Stay tuned to hear the final outcome!
Amazon seems to betting on crypto currencies, as they recently registered three domain names related to blockchain and cryptocurrencies: amazoncryptocurrencies.com, amazoncryptocurrency.com and amazonethereum.com. Either Amazon is just registering these domains for brand protection, or they are thinking about integrating bitcoin into it’s available payment options… We shall see!
AI & Machine Learning
Is AI about to make a huge leap? –Wired
VR & AR
These glasses are helping the visually impaired see the world again
Amazon unveiled AR View, it’s new augmented reality feature in it’s iOS shopping app. This new feature shows a customer how a product will look in their space before buying. Although other big retailers such as Wayfair, IKEA, and Houzz have already launched similar features, it’s hard to compete with the most popular online marketplace.
Google has launched a new platform called Poly, where developers can find free VR and AR objects to use in their apps. The Poly objects are compatible with multiple VR platforms, Google’s ARCore, and Apple’s ARKit.
“Simply put, we believe augmented reality is going to change the way we use technology forever,” Tim Cook said during his fourth-quarter earnings call. “We’re already seeing things that will transform the way you work, play, connect and learn.”
Robotics & Hardware
Harvard’s Robobee drone can now dive in and out of water!
Are DSLR cameras going to become a thing of the past? A team of scientists at the ETH Zurich Computer Vision Lab published a paper describing a method of using neural networks to take average smartphone pictures and turn them into DSLR-quality photos automatically. Although the results are impressive, we don’t see pro or semi-pro photographics putting their DSLRs to the side anytime soon, as the alterations made to the photos may not be what everyone wants.
Biology & Genomics
The first molecule of life on earth might of been protein, not RNA. This story from Quant Magazine is a fascinating look at how our knowledge of how life evolved is being constantly revised. Just another example of how little we know about the origins of life.
Venture Capital & Investing
Regardless of what you think about Snap’s valuation or where they’re headed, the back story about how Snap was built is fascinating. The founders and team were focused on their own intuition and direct experience, not metrics. The best VCs still rely on intuition, something that can drive engineering teams crazy. From this Slate story on Snap:
“But listening to Spiegel talk about Snap suggests another way of looking at it — one that sets it apart from its Silicon Valley rivals and holds it in opposition to prevailing winds in technology and industry. He justifies the company’s decision-making by appealing to theory, intuition, and anecdotal observation rather than empirical data. He portrays its sometimes confounding interface as the product of conscious design decisions that prioritize creativity and self-expression. And he explicitly rejects the notion that machine-learning algorithms can replace human editorial judgment.”
Research & Development
You’d think this would be common knowledge, but apparently it’s still news to many people. CNBC highlights a new Goldman Sach’s report labeling seven corporations with a total of $1.3T in R&D spending as “buys”.
“Investors have rewarded companies investing the most for future growth, hoping that such investments will pay off in the current modest GDP growth environment,” –Cole Hunter, Goldman Sachs
You invest into technology… and you get venture-sized returns! Who would have thought ;)
Marketing & Advertising
We just launched the Branded daily update for marketing, branding, creative, and advertising executives. You can check out the first issue of Branded here. To make sure you don’t miss The Mission’s Tech & Trends or future editions of Branded, subscribe to our daily newsletter here.
Tech & Trends Q&A
The questions here reflect some of the best questions I’ve heard around the office, while at events, or over the weekend. Some are direct, and some are amalgamations of many questions I’ve heard over the week. Feel free to tweet or message me your questions @stephpostles or Stephanie(at)TheMission.co. As a rule of thumb, I don’t use names, but if you want your name included, let me know, and I’ll see what I can do :)
Q: Which will reach mainstream adoption first: VR or AR?
A: We think AR because of its useful integration into everyday scenarios! Also, putting on a headset that blocks out everything else still prompts the claustrophobic feeling for many people. Check out the iPhone X’s integration of AR into Apple’s native apps, as well as the iOS 11 update. Apple is basically nudging hundreds of millions of people towards AR.
Opportunities & Spotlights
Have an open job you want featured? It’s free, just let us know!
Athos is hiring! Specifically, they’re looking to hire a marketer with a background, expertise, and obsession with sports. If you’re interested, email me for a referral.
That’s it for today’s edition of Tech & Trends. Want more goodness like this?
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