We need to learn quickly to keep up with the massive change around us so we don't get run over. We need to outrun change.
Dematerialization –stuff that used to take up physical space no longer needs physical space.
Matt Ridley summarizes a large component of the radical change surrounding us in terms of dematerialization. In his WSJ post, The Future Is So Bright, it’s Dematerializing, he says:
Continue reading “Another description of change taking place – dematerialization”
As usual, Dr. Mark Perry has the best graphs.
In Newspaper Ad Revenues Fall to 60-Yr. Low in 2011, he graphs advertising revenue for newspapers on an inflation adjusted basis from 1950 through 2010 (actual) with projection for 2011 through third quarter.
Wow. So that is what it looks like for an entire industry to fall off a cliff.
Great review by Michael Shermer – Defying the Doomsayers.
Just got my Kindle copy of the book and have started reading it. Superb. I previously mentioned this book.
Here’s a few examples of the pace of change.
Continue reading “WSJ review of Abundance – the future is better than you think”
Walter Russell Mead is developing a picture of what the new economy might look like. Most recent post is Beyond Blue 5: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
That we are in the midst of a massive change in the whole economy has been obvious for a while. All the rules have changed.
What does this change look like?
The music, newspaper, and manufacturing industries are painfully aware of this. It is dawning on the publishing industry and the post office that the tidal wave of change has hit them. Primary education, higher education, and government at all levels haven’t caught on. I’m not sure where the CPA industry is at.
My opinion, shown clearly on this blog, is that our future is so bright we need sunglasses now.
At the same time, the transition will be terribly painful. Massive changes are needed to make the shift.
One huge area needing change is in the heavy hand of government regulation. Mr. Mead opens his post with:
Continue reading “How government could make the massive transition in the economy easier”
Kashmir Hill, from Forbes, reports in How Target Figures Out a Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did that Target is data-mining purchases to predict who is the early stage of pregnancy.
By cross-referencing a lot of purchasing data, Target can calculate the probability of a customer being pregnant and even estimate a delivery date. The article quotes Charles Duhigg of the New York Times:
Transformation of the music industry is old news. Retail, publishing, and newspaper industries are changing before our very eyes. The Wall Street Journal described that Target stores are now working to deal with the ‘showrooming’ factor in their stores. That’s the trend that is devastating big box electronic stores (Best Buy) and booksellers (remember Borders?).
Up next? Well, maybe not next but soon, will be higher education.
Here’s three articles that paint the picture:
Continue reading “We can see the contours of the revolution in higher education”
Here are a few stats on energy production in North Dakota from Mark Perry’s post, North Dakota Sets More Oil Productions Records in November; Above 500k Daily Barrels for First Time:
I will rearrange his comments. All of the following are quotes:
Let’s look at oil production in North Dakota:
…doubled from 246,000 barrels per day two years ago
Continue reading “Putting North Dakota oil production into perspective”
Don’t quite know how to get my head around this.
Remember the view when the Shuttle engines and rockets lit off? Millions of pounds of spaceship are up and outta’ here.
In a flash it’s clear of the pad and a few moments later it’s miles high and hundreds of miles downrange. Smartphone sales are on that kind of curve.
Mark Perry, at Carpe Diem, points to this article by E.D. Kain at Forbes: Smartphone Shipments Top PCs For The First Time Ever.
Continue reading “Smartphone sales are looking like a Shuttle takeoff”
(cross-posted from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)
Why doesn’t it feel like the real GDP has recovered from the recession? Because employment is still in the tank.
Continue reading “Again, here’s why it feels like the economy hasn’t recovered”
(cross-post from my other blog, Attestation Update, with a few changes for broader application.)
That’s a key idea from Bill Sheridan’s blog post, Learn. Share. Repeat from the Maryland Association of CPAs. His comments apply directly to all knowledge workers.
Knowledge workers need to have a lot of knowledge. And a broad base of information. And the wisdom how to use that knowledge.
We get paid for what we know! Cool!
Continue reading “Knowledge workers get to learn for a living!”
A report by Randy Nelson, Drones now account for one third of U.S. warplanes, says:
According to a new Congressional report, the country’s military now has 7,494 drone aircraft in use, compared to 10,767 traditional, manned planes.
Continue reading “Fourty percent of U.S. military aircraft are drones”