Once the high-tech bastion of American innovative spirit and entrepreneurism, we forecast Silicon Valley will lose its status as the global center of technological transformation, no longer attracting the top tier of tech talent or leading new discoveries. As with other cutting-edge leaders in commerce and industry that faded throughout history into obscurity as times...
Tag: Fall2016
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The 2016 election: Silicon Valley out of touch again
Silicon Valley’s self-proclaimed dominance over the tech world took a thunderous hit on Election Night 2016. Its almost unanimous support of Hillary Clinton, and masterminding of the digital, high-tech backbone of her campaign, was ransacked by Donald Trump’s anti-immigration, anti-globalization and pro-working families messaging. Old fashioned-style rallies and Twitter barrages outmaneuvered the elite upperclassmen of...
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Trend Forecast
Investment in artificial intelligence, deep learning, robotics, virtual reality and chip technology is powering Rust Belt 2.0 to levels that will greatly and quickly surpass, both in investment and market gains, the dot-com boom. There is virtually no industry that won’t be significantly impacted or transformed by the expanding capability and affordability of robot and...
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Why think, do for yourself?
From building cars to sorting mail, the workload of robots has dramatically expanded, taking on human tasks that make them part of the family and workforce. Today’s robots build our cars and sort our mail. Tomorrow’s automated devices already are beginning to prepare our meals, keep company with our elders and replace us in thousands of mundane —...
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Trend Forecast
From road to car to shopping mall to burger stand and back home, automation will drive our investments and future. Last December, the Trends Research Institute made this forecast: “In 2016, robots become mainstream. Moreover, they begin breeding, transforming many aspects of daily life.” We are fast approaching a world in which robots not only are self-aware, but...
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Death by cellphone
Are cellphones dirty? Are they a hazard to your health?The industry says no. Is cigarette smoking hazardous to your health? For decades, the tobacco industry hid the data and denied the deadly truth.Is eating pesticide-laden foods good for you? Or would you rather feed yourself and your children “clean” organic foods brought to market safely?...
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A look at the science so far
The evidence clearly is mounting: Your cellphone, abetted by your other digital devices, may slowly be ravaging your health. The latest evidence is a preliminary report, published in May, of findings from a study by the National Toxicology Program, an initiative of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The two-year study is the...
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Trendpost
In October, a Washington, D.C., appeals court dealt a setback to a longstanding, multi-party series of lawsuits against several cellphone producers, including Apple, Samsung, AT&T, Motorola and Verizon. The lawsuits allege cellphone use causes brain tumors and other health hazards to form. But the court ruled that evidence in the case must be represented for...
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Drawing Points
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Public Budgeting gives (some) power back to the people
One night in 2014, parents at the Citizens of the World Charter School in Brooklyn, NY, were cataloguing their school’s woes. The kids didn’t have a playground. There was no stop sign at the intersection leading to the school. In the park down the block, the pavement was so shattered that a wheelchair couldn’t navigate...