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Examining the rise of crowd labor platforms in 2012

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 07:55:19 +0000

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James Dyson, maverick inventor funds a product incubator

Om Malik — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:17:54 +0000

James Dyson, the British inventor behind the iconic Dyson line of vacuum cleaners is giving $8 million to London’s Royal College of Art for an incubator, Fast Company magazine reports. The RCA design and engineering graduates will incubate 40 new products. Dyson, believes that with all the obsession on code and digital, there is need for physical inventions. Some of the products being worked on at the incubator include LooWatt (a waterless toilet system that generates biogas in developing communities) and a retractable room divider for hospital wards, KwickScreen.

Dyson tells Fast Company’s Co.Design:

“Talented young minds want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page. But with the world abuzz with digital, we are losing sight of real engineering. Hardware is profitable. Don’t be fooled, Apple’s success as a technology company is built on hardware. The current fixation with digital is misplaced. Long-term it is unlikely to generate jobs, growth, and exports. Instead, we need to encourage more young engineers to commercialize their technologies.”

First of all, I think it is a great idea. There are so many product categories that are in need of reinvention and re-imagination, as the consumers of today are very different from the consumers of say, 25 years ago. How we use physical objects today is very different.

Dyson’s bet on a physical products incubator comes at a time when digital and physical are getting increasingly closer. The rise of devices such as Nest shows that physical objects of tomorrow will need to embrace software, connectivity and services.

PS: We will be discussing the role of design in shaping our connected future with folks such as Ev Williams (Twitter co-founder), Tony Fadell (Nest co-founder) and others at our RoadMap conference on November 5th in San Francisco.

Announcing Pinterest CEO to speak at RoadMap

Om Malik, Katie Fehrenbacher — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:00:05 +0000

Any discussion about cutting edge web design needs to include Pinterest — the disruptive startup has one of the most breakthrough and compelling web designs to emerge over the past few years. That’s why we’re really excited to announce that Pinterest’s CEO Ben Silbermann will be doing a rare interview at our RoadMap event, which will occur on November 5th in San Francisco.

RoadMap this year will focus on design in the age of connectedness. It’s the idea that the explosion of big data and always-on wireless connections are making the world so complex, and design, UI and user experience are the keys to simplifying and making meaning of the connected ecosystem. Other speakers at RoadMap include Nest CEO Tony Fadell, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom, Tumblr CEO David Karp, fuseproject founder Yves Behar, Obvious CEO Evan Williams, and others (more on the schedule and speakers here).

Pinterest is one of those startups that had design baked in from the very beginning. Fast Company published a fascinating article on Silbermann and Pinterest last month, discussing the great lengths that Silbermann took to create an early community based around beautiful images and strong design elements. “The grid was everything,” explained Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp to Fast Company.

Come hear from Silbermann about the future of web design and e-commerce, how he cultivated an early design blogger community, and what he’s learned from leading one of the fastest growing web sites of all time. The Atlantic’s Alexis Madrigal will be interviewing him. We have a limited number of tickets, so get yours here, now!

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Workspaces go slash

Jessica Stillman — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 09:32:37 +0000

As the social contract between companies and employees that mandated loyalty in return for security breaks down and careers become more fluid, diverse and self-directed, more and more of us have become what Marci Alboher memorably dubbed “slashes” several years ago. Who’s a slash? Anyone with multiple career identities that can be separated by the eponymous punctuation mark – as in, ‘I’m a graphic designer/ entrepreneur/ tambourine player.’ (Sadly no, metal heads, the term has nothing to do with the former Guns N’ Roses guitarist).

Careers going slash is not exactly news (Fast Company recently dubbed the same phenomenon ‘Generation Flux’ in a fascinating series of articles) but one corollary of this shift is just getting started — the slash space. The boundaries between our different identities are blurring in time as many more of us work flexibly at multiple gigs or projects throughout the year, week or even day, and it seems the hard lines between spaces for work, family and play are also becoming less stark.

At least that’s what a spate of innovative new space ideas that blur personal and professional space begins to suggest. In Europe, for example, Regus and other flexible office space companies are tucking workspaces into transport hubs to cater to a more location independent, office hours agnostic work style. Reuters reports:

Regus… is opening 15 on-platform railway business lounges in the Netherlands, 60 to 100 in France, and more in Switzerland and Germany. Regus is looking to do the same in shopping malls in the U.S and Shell service stations globally. The firm’s first motorway-flanking office opened in January in France on the A10 Autoroute’s Limours-Janvry service station.

In Britain, The Office Group has signed a deal to open five drop-in offices at railway stations, starting with London Paddington in September.

But it’s not just the railway station/office that’s going slash. How about coworking/daycare? Forget leaving your personal commitments at the door as you head out to the office, Plug & Play, a new coworking space in Austin, Texas is offering freelancers, entrepreneurs and remote workers office space and childcare under one roof, allowing members to meet parental and professional obligations in one place.

Do you think we’ll see more hybrid spaces along these lines as the rigid boundaries of traditional office culture break down further?

Image courtesy of Flickr user SashaW.

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Why the next front in big data might be psychological

Derrick Harris — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:01:18 +0000

Big data is often talked about as a phenomenon that lets organizations create narratives from their volumes of data. That is an apt characterization when we are talking about connecting the dots among disparate and possibly disconnected data sets. However, when we are talking about anything involving human beings — customer behavior, the spread of disease, attitudes toward products or people — all that many current analytical efforts deliver is the end of the book, or what happened. The end is a fine place to start with regard to big data, but working backward — that is, figuring out why people made the decisions they made — might prove even more valuable for everyone involved.

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NTV is Live from YouTube Live

Chris Albrecht — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:20:57 +0000

YouTube is hosting its big YouTube Live event right now here in San Francisco. Liz and I are on the UG-scene and will be providing updates throughout the evening. Mainstream stars like Will.I.Am, AKON and Katy Perry are rubbing shoulders with web celebs like Michael Buckley, Tay Zonday and “Fred” so stay tuned for interviews, news and more.

Update from Liz 3:28 p.m.: Just live-streamed a couple clips of the backstage scene, including Katy Perry and Will.i.am’s rigs, and a nice little view of the Golden Gate Bridge just outside. YouTube is conducting a press conference now where they’re saying the people performing today are responsible for 2.5 billion views. Michael Buckley, LisaNova, Tay Zonday are queuing up to joint the press conference. They are part of the “Vlog Squad” today — not quite sure what that means yet. Holy crap, Tay Zonday really sounds like that in person.

Update from Liz 4:11 p.m.: Sorry about the problems with the clips. We’re having trouble getting through YouTube’s Wi-Fi security. But good stuff is on its way! (That was all fixed but since some of the clips were stuck in transit for a while they’re now somewhat out of order.)

Update from Liz 5:01 p.m.: We interviewed the Poptub team in the hall. They say they’ve gotten all sorts of access to the show for the last three days and interviewed all the YouTubers except Fred so far, though they hear he’s sort of a diva. I asked them about the reported objective for them to get 3 billion views, and they say it was misinterpreted; it was actually 1 billion “impressions” by the end of the year. Check the Kyte livestream if you’re interested.

Update from Liz 5:09 p.m.: OK, the show is on. Katy Perry just performed “Hot and Cold,” now Beardyman is on beat-boxing. You don’t need us for the live-blog of the mainstage, way better to watch the live-stream (no embed, sorry). But some notes on the scene: People are definitely hyped, and the place is packed (though it’s a pretty small venue…YouTube PR said they’re expecting 2-3,000 attendees). Lots of colorful characters — plenty of skateboarders, but no kittens or puppies so far. Biggest applause since the show started (by far) was for Tay Zonday. Chris and I are across the catwalk from Chad Hurley and Larry Page, who seem psyched. Now they’re live-streaming from a Virgin America “party plane” and the quality is really shitty so everyone’s just chatting with each other. OK, onto Sick Puppies (no, not the real thing…the band).

Update from Liz 5:17 p.m.: Many YouTubers were just invited to come be in the VIP section, not to actually perform. They all have Flip cameras in hand, and are filming everything. Kind of a bizarre scene to see a hundred of the same cameras getting nearly the same shot at the same time.

Update from Liz 6 p.m.: They’re going through bucket categories that don’t fit on stage like sports, dance, and politics. As for the live stuff, it’s pretty awesome: breakdancing, Mythbusters, cup stackers, magic. Queen Rania gets the YouTube visionary award from SF mayor Gavin Newsom and his new wife. She accepts via a sent-in video of of the top ten reasons she started a YouTube channel, Letterman-style. Every time Obama comes up people go crazy. OK, now Will.i.am singing his new Obama single.

Update from Liz 7 p.m.: Akon is the closer? Is he really that big? He’s singing — even crowdsurfing. And now the fake smoke is setting in. Altogether a crazy, raw-around-the-edges variety show — actually perfect for YouTube. It undoubtedly was going to be weird to try to bring a web site to life, but it wasn’t that bad. The one thing is, this was kind of a celebration of YouTube’s entire existence, not this particular year. Which made it oddly like a memorial tribute or something. What will they do next time?

Update from Liz 7:15 p.m.: So Chris comments that for an event built on a web site, this was weirdly like the Emmys. Which I agree was true to a point — it was super strange to see Michael Buckley and LisaNova doing banter off a teleprompter. The headline acts they were able to snag were also pretty incongruous. (Though Katy Perry and Will.i.am worked the best by not just performing but also integrating themselves into other bits of the show.) It’ll be interesting to see what kind of numbers the live stream attracted. Sure, YouTube is a humongously popular web site, but can it promote an event like this and make it a huge deal all on its own?

Update from Liz 7:49 p.m.: For those wondering about the live stream, here’s what I got. It was powered by Google and its servers, though they enlisted other infrastructure to ensure that they didn’t crash (looks like the partner was Akamai). And there was a high of at least 650,000 simultaneous streams, probably more. YouTubers backstage called the event a success, and said they would wait to see what the reaction was before they decide if it will be an annual thing.

Did you watch? Did you care? Let us know.

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Tell Zuckerberg! Does Social Networking 'Work' For You?

Rusty Weston — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:32:40 +0000

Social networks are hot. No doubt. VCs love them. But from the user-perspective they deserve plenty of criticism, too.

Why do you think the lately-controversial founder of facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, showed up on 60 Minutes Sunday night?

It’s relatively easy to see how social networks are enhancing people’s lives personally, (MySpace, LiveJournal, Twitter), and in terms of individual professional connectivity (LinkedIn). Less clear, is the extent to which — in measurable terms — social networks are enhancing your ability to run your startup better. (Beebo.) Are they?

At my main blog, My Global Career, I’ve set out to understand how such tools can help us all work better. Now, together with Found|READ, I invite you participate in my study, the “State of Social Networking 2008″ – a free, fast and confidential survey about how you are using your social networks.

To complete the survey, click HERE.

Doing so enters you into a drawing for an Apple iPhone, or equivalent prize from an Apple store, sponsored by My Global Career.

Rusty Weston is a seasoned tech journalist, founder of the blog, My Global Career, and a regular contributor to both Found|READ, and the Fast Company blog. For samples of his work see: Talent Crunch; and Careers: Who Wants to Be a Political Pundit?.

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