In this issue: OBESITY FIGURES BACK SOURCING EXERCISE ROBOT THE FUTURE OF EMAIL And much, much more... --------------------------------- BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL BRAINMAIL *Feeding hungry minds since 2004 --------------------------------- Issue 43 - September 2008 --------------------------------- Brainmail is a free snack-sized newsletter dedicated to current and future trends. To subscribe or unsubscribe go to http://brainmail.nowandnext.com Tell the whole world about brainmail forward this to zillions of friends. --------------------------------- > US innovation trends Recent reports that America is slipping down the innovation tables seem to be overblown. The US still accounts for 40% of global R&D expenditure and produces 63% of the most regularly cited scientific papers. The US is also home to 75% of the world's top universities and hosts 70% of the world's living Nobel Prize winners. The US also produces 38% of patented new technologies within the OECD. Ref: The Economist (UK). > Size still everything for some When Toyota (the people that make the environment friendly Prius) increased the engine size of its Tundra truck in the US from 4.7 litres to 5.7 litres in 2006 sales increased by 58%. Ref: Wired (US) > Obesity figures Australia has overtaken the US as the most obese nation on earth according to an Australian study. 26% of adults in Australia are now classified as obese. In the US the figure is 25%. Ref: Financial Times (UK) > Worse than you thought. According to a Harris Poll conducted late last year less than 15% of the US population believes that any of the following companies are "generally honest and trustworthy." Tobacco companies (3%), oil companies (3%), health insurance companies (7%), online retailers (10%), drug companies (11%), packaged food companies (12%) electric and gas companies (15%). The best-ranked industry was supermarkets at 32%. Ref: Counterpunch.org (US) > Back sourcing Here's a good example of re-localisation or 'back sourcing'. Steiff, the German maker of teddy bears, is re-locating production back to Germany from China because, in their own words: "cost isn't everything". Expect to see much more of this. Ref: Financial Times (UK) > The natural fabric trend Proof, if you need it, that things can run in cycles. Eco-awareness plus the skyrocketing price of oil has meant that consumers in Japan are flocking away from oil-based synthetic materials back to natural fabrics such as cotton, silk and wool. So what's next? Expect to see this trend everywhere but also expect to see a whole host of innovations using natural fibres (bamboo, banana fibre, corn etc). Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > Post-natal depression in men Apparently dads can get the baby blues too. Moreover, a study in the US has found that two-year-olds have a smaller vocabulary if their father is depressed. Strangely a child's vocabulary is not as small with women suffering from post-natal depression. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Word detective: Viral Expansion Loops A viral expansion loop is similar to the idea of viral marketing but with a few big differences. With viral marketing the content tends to be fixed and has a relatively short lifespan. With viral expansion loops users tend to modify the content and the more users there are the more valuable the content or network becomes. Examples of ideas with viral expansion loops include Ning, Facebook and MySpace. Ref: Fast Company (US) > The future of email Xobni is inbox spelt backwards. It's also a company that is trying to help people that are drowning in data, specifically email. Some of the clever things that the plug-in can do include identifying whom your most important contacts are, what time of day they generally contact you and how long it typically takes you to respond. Knowing when most important emails arrive, for instance, allows you to pick up emails at specific times rather than having email continually open, which can be distracting. Ref: Wired (US) > Word detective: Off-Choring Off-Choring is the sending of simple everyday digital tasks to digital assistants in low-cost countries such as India. For example, email responses can be outsourced and so can online dating (at least at the beginning). Companies offering an Off-Choring or 'Bangalore Butler' service include AskSunday.com. Ref: CSMonitor.com (US) > New business models In Europe and the US the business model for video game companies is usually to sell a shrink-wrapped game in a shop. In Asia things are different. A common model is to give away a game as a free download and then to charge players, not to play the game but to buy extras such as character upgrades. The use of online micro payments makes this possible and companies also generate revenue through in game advertising. Ref: The Economist (UK) > Exercise robot The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science in Japan has created a 60cm humanoid robot that can help older people to exercise. The 'bot has a repertoire of 20 moves and responds to verbal instructions or commands printed as barcodes. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > Canned Spam and other online foods With thoughts of eco-friendliness in mind perhaps it's time for canned food to make a comeback. After all, canned food doesn't need a fridge and can last for years. For example, there's a German camping supplies website (trekking-mahlzeiten.de) that sells a cheeseburger (with bun) in a can. You can also buy canned bacon (from canned-bacon.com) and canned pancakes. Actually, on second thoughts... Ref: The Times (UK) --------------------------------- : PSEUD QUOTE OF THE MONTH "Moving everything online will not build prod-user capability if the pedagogy remains subject-centred, expert driven and transmissive". Clear? Me neither. --------------------------------- : WORK TRENDS - TRUE OR FALSE? John Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas (a US outplacement firm) has identified a series of workplace trends and predictions for the future. My own comments appear in brackets. 1. Teleconferencing could end business travel (false) 2. Audio, video and web conferencing will grow significantly (true) 3. Productivity will increase due to the decline of business travel (maybe) 4. Social networking will become the only recruiting tool (false) 5. There will be no health benefits in the US in the future (maybe) 6. Less companies will offer medical benefits to staff (true) 7. The US will struggle to figure out how to pay for healthcare (true) 8. Companies that offer healthcare will mandate wellness programs (true) 9. More companies will offer fitness programmes and quit smoking classes (true) 10. A 4-day workweek will become standard (false) 11. Corporate degree programs will shape potential workers (maybe) 12. Globalisation will increase the exodus of talented workers to job rich areas (true) 13. Companies will recruit the best staff regardless of location (true) 14. Cubicle life will end (maybe) 15. People will work from wherever they want (true) 16. Free agents will be the norm (maybe) 17. More companies will hire on a project basis (true) 18. Corporate HQs will vanish (false) 19. Offices will feature more open spaces and common areas (true) 20. Companies will seek to reduce real estate costs (true) Ref: Baltimore Sun (US) --------------------------------- : FAST FACTS 52% of Korean infants aged 3-5 regularly use the Internet, spending on average 4 hours every week online. Ref: Korean Herald (Korea) 77 billion corporate emails are sent every working day. By 2012 the number is expected to be around 150 billion. Ref: Wired (US) 5% of Soviet officials under President Gorbachev had security service backgrounds. Under Putin the figure was 78%. Ref: Harper's (US) 70% of people in the UK have no ties whatsoever to any local group or association. Ref: YouGov/Sunday Telegraph (UK) There were 411,000 books published in the US in 2007 Ref: The Economist (UK) Over 50% of Harvard undergraduates had joined Facebook within 4 weeks of its launch in 2004. Ref: Fast Company (US) The wealthiest 20% of the British population cycles 250% further each year than the poorest 20%. Ref: The Times (UK) By the year 2050, 90% of British adults will be obese. Ref: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (France) Five of the top ten best-selling novels sold in Japan during 2007 started life as cell-phone stories (i.e. digital downloads to mobile phones) Ref: South China Morning Post (China) The Web uses 5% of global electricity. Ref: Kevin Kelly (predicting the next 5,000 days of the web - on YouTube) A Mills and Boon paperback is sold every 6 seconds in the UK. Ref: The Observer (UK) 3.5 million mothers and young children will die this year due to malnutrition. Ref: The Guardian (UK) In 2000, the death rate of poor people aged under-65 in the US was 60% higher than for rich people. The figure was also 100% higher than it was back in 1980. Ref: New Scientist (UK) Air-travel is responsible for around 10% of transport related greenhouse gas emissions in the US Ref: Popular Science (US) 79% of British kids have a TV in their bedroom. 63% of kids watch TV before going to bed and 58% watch whilst eating an evening meal Ref: The Guardian /Childwise (UK) The population of China is 1,330, 044, 605 (give or take). By the year 2050 this is expected to hit 1,424,161,948. However, the really interesting statistic is this. There are 130 million people aged 60+ in China at present. By 2050 it will be 400 million. Ref: China Daily (China) 41% of the world's population do not have access to a toilet. Ref: Harper's (US) --------------------------------- : BOOK OF THE MONTH Here comes everybody: The Power of organizing without organizations by Clay Shirky. --------------------------------- : AND ANOTHER BOOK... My own book, Future Files: A History of the Next 50 Years, is being launched in Britain and North America this month. Look out for it in bookshops or download the first chapter for free at futuretrendsbook.com --------------------------------- : WEB SIGHT OF THE MONTH Ideas, culture, history, philosophy, trends, music, art, gossip and more... http://www.aldaily.com --------------------------------- : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "At no time in history has it been possible to market to so many using so little" - Abridged from Fast Company. --------------------------------- : STILL HUNGRY? If this snack-sized newsletter still leaves you feeling hungry feed your brain with something a little more substantial at www.nowandnext.com (and yes, that's free too). --------------------------------- : LOOKING FOR AN INSIGHTFUL AND ENTERTAINING SPEAKER? If you are looking for an inspiring speaker for your next event ask your speaker agency about Richard Watson or contact him direct via http://nowandnext.com Recent speaker clients have included IBM, McDonald's, Virgin, Commonwealth Bank and Disney. --------------------------------- : SMALL PRINT The stories, statistics and 'facts' appearing in brainmail are sourced from a variety of reliable publications worldwide. However, brainmail cannot guarantee the truthfulness of stories and a degree of commonsense should be applied before quoting or using any of this material in a commercial context.