In this issue: TRENDS FOR 2011 CROWD-SOURCED ARTS FUNDING 10 MINUTES AND 42 SECONDS LOADS OF GREAT STATS 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 71 - January 2011 --------------------------------- Brainmail is a free monthly (usually) newsletter dedicated to current and future trends, statistics and other nuggets of information. To subscribe, or unsubscribe, to the world's best cerebral snackfood visit http://brainmail.nowandnext.com/ Tell the whole world about brainmail - forward this to zillions of friends. --------------------------------- : TRENDS & TECHNOLOGY > Trends for 2011 Here's a list of trends for 2011 and beyond from McKinsey & Company: 1. Distributed Co-creation moves Mainstream 2. Making the Network Organization 3. Collaboration at Scale 4. The Growing "Internet of Things" 5. Experimentation and Big Data 6. Wiring for a Sustainable World 7. Imagining Anything as a Service 8. The Age of the Multisided Business Model 9. Innovation at the Bottom of the Pyramid 10. Producing Public Good on the Grid Ref: McKinsey (US) > More Trends for 2011 And here are eight more trends from Samsung: 1. Social Business 2. Immersive Interface 3. Hybrid Web 4. Connected Devices 5. Mobile Cloud Service 6. Continuous Intelligence 7. Open Collaboration 8. Service-Driven Networks Ref: Samsung (Korea) > Conveyor Belt Crematoria A 400-year-old Buddhist temple in Japan has solved the problem of graveyard over-crowding by adding automation. Mourners swipe a smart card containing data about loved ones and the ashes are brought out to a peaceful area via conveyor belt. Ref: The Times (UK) > Belief in God An Italian study has found that survival rates among liver transplant patients were far higher if the patient was "actively seeking God". Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > Future Population Forecasts According to Worldmapper, national populations for the year 2050 include India at 1.528 billion, China 1.477 billion, USA 349 million, Pakistan 345 million, Indonesia 311 million, Mexico 146 million, Philippines 130 million, Iran 114 million, Turkey 100 million, Germany 73 million, Afghanistan 61 million, UK 56 million, Iraq 54 million, Saudi Arabia 54 million, Italy 41 million and Australia 35 million. Ref: The Australian (Aus) > Nut-Free Seating Air Canada has been ordered by the Canadian Transportation Agency to create nut free seating on its aircraft. What's next - gluten free class? Ref: Sun Herald (Aus) > Still Living at Home 1 in 3 British men aged between 20 and 40 still lives with his parents. For women of the same age the figure is 1 in 5. Ref: Daily Mail (UK) > Kids' Shows The number of kids watching Blue Peter (a TV show) has fallen from an average of 8 million in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s to around 100,000 now. Ref: The Independent (UK) > Big Government In 2009, 6.09 million British people worked for the British Government. That's around 1 in every 5 workers in Britain. Ref: Daily Mail (UK) > CCTV Stats There are 60,000 council controlled CCTV cameras in the UK (up from 21,000 in 1999), yet only 1 crime each year is solved for every 1,000 cameras. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > Climate of Opinion 39% of people do not believe that climate change has been proven. 7% do not think that climate change is happening at all while 23% think that climate change is the most serious issue facing mankind. Ref: Sunday Times (UK) > Crowdsourced Arts Funding Following on from the successful micro-donations campaign that helped to sweep Barack Obama to power comes news of a new idea. WeFund is a website that helps small arts organizations to find funding. Donations can be as small as GBP 1. Ref: Financial Times (UK) > No Work Almost 1 in 8 people in the UK lives in a household where nobody has a job. In some parts of the UK the figure is 1 in 3. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > Know Your Queuing Limit! A study by the Payments Council in the UK has found that after 10 minutes and 42 seconds queuing most people in the UK lose their temper. Surprisingly, people aged 55+ have a lower queuing tolerance than younger people. Supermarkets are peoples' least favourite places to queue followed by Post Offices and Airports. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > Mad Idea A couple of designers have come up with a novel way to re-charge mobile phone batteries. By playing a finger-sized hole in the battery, users can remove the battery and twirl it around a finger, thereby recharging it using kinetic energy. Ref: The Times (UK) > 11 More Trends for 2011 Here are eleven more trends from Trendwatching.com: 1. Random acts of kindness 2. Urbanisation 3. Pricing pandemonium 4. Made in China/emerging economies 5. Online status symbols 6. 'Wellthy' 7. 'Twinsumers' and 'Social- lites' 8. Emerging generosity 9. Planned spontaneity 10. Eco-superior 11. Ownerless Ref: Trendwatching.com (Netherlands) > Predictions for the Next 25 Years Here's an edited list of things that some people think will happen between now and the year 2036. Good luck with a few of these: 1. Geopolitical rivals will take greater risks against the US 2. A vaccine will cure AIDS 3. More things will be sold in plain packages 4. Information will be streamed directly into the cortex 5. We'll understand what dark matter really is 6. Russia will become a global food superpower 7. Privacy will become a quaint obsession 8. Gaming will be used to solve serious problems 9. Sporting events will be broadcast using holograms 10. People will feel less healthy Ref: The Guardian (UK) --------------------------------- : THE NUMBERS 87% of Chinese, 50% of Brazilians and 45% of Indians think that their country is heading in the right direction. In the UK it's 31% while in the US it's 26%. Ref: The Economist (UK) In 2010, 6.1 trillion text messages were sent worldwide. Source: International Telecommunication Union If the US power grid could be made 5% more efficient it would save greenhouse gases equivalent to 53,000,000 automobiles. Ref: McKinsey (US) 70% of Chinese energy comes from coal. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) New Yorkers in 1900 were far more likely to die of an accident involving a horse than people living in New York were likely to die of an accident that involved a car in 2007. Ref: Superfreakenomics by Steven J. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. 57% of Chinese men aged over 18 smoke. Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus) 1/3 of retail payments in the UK are still made in cash. Ref: UK Payments Council Of 187 mammal species thought to be extinct since the year 1500, one third have subsequently been rediscovered. Ref: The Week (UK) Property represents around 1/3 of investment spending in China. Ref: Newsweek (US) In 1997 an Apple PowerBook cost $5,700. If, instead of buying a PowerBook you had invested this sum in Apple shares, it would now be worth $333,000. Ref: Prospect Magazine (UK) 41% of young people in Spain do not have a job. Ref: The Economist (UK) 5 million people aged 35-54 will join China's core labour force between 2010 and 2020. This compares to around 90 million between 2000 and 2010. Ref: Newsweek (US) 475,000 Chinese have assets of $1 million or more. Ref: Scorpio Partnership In 2010, five times as many American's will die from AIDS as were killed in 9/11. Ref: New Republic Online (US) The growth rate in the US is roughly 3% and in Europe it's 2%. In China it's 10% and in India it's 9%. Ref: The Economist (UK). The average Chinese annual income is US$496 per year in rural areas and US$3,733 in urban areas. Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus) 60% of people in the UK now bank or pay bills online. Ref: UK Payments Council (UK) The average cost of a house in the UK is GBP 163,000. Ref: Financial Times (UK) The average US supermarket sells 48,750 different products. This figure represents an increase of 500% since 1975. Ref: Food Marketing Institute (US) Alcohol consumption in the UK fell by 6% between 2008 and 2009. Ref: British Beer & Pub Association (UK) The average UK wind farm runs at about 21% capacity due to a lack of wind. Ref: Daily Mail (UK) In 2008, revenues for live music overtook revenues from the sale of recorded music for the first time. By 2009, live music generated sales of approximately GBP 1.5 billion versus recorded music sales of around GBP 1.3 billion. Ref: Financial Times (UK) By 2025, 350 million more Chinese will have moved to urban areas. Ref: McKinsey (US) China's university population has grown by 400% over the past 20 years. Ref: The Economist (UK) Google handles around one billion searches per day. Ref: Searchengineland.com (US) --------------------------------- : BOOK OF THE MONTH "Water" by Steven Solomon. --------------------------------- : WEB SIGHT OF THE MONTH Nothing nasty, just a way to get rid of unwanted emails and "friends": http://suicidemachine.org/ --------------------------------- : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson; you find the present tense but the past perfect." - Owens Pomeroy --------------------------------- : PREDICTION OF THE MONTH 2011 will be the year of the austerity backlash. Spending cuts and youth unemployment will fuel protest across Europe. Greece will restructure its debt. Germany and some Nordics will create a Euromark, while others adopt a devalued Eurolite. The US Congress will aim protectionist measures at "currency manipulators" (i.e. China). High unemployment will convince Sarah Palin to run for the White House. - Stephen Sackur, BBC --------------------------------- : STILL HUNGRY? Not a lot of people know this, but brainmail is put together using some of the leftover bits from the What's Next trends report. So if this snack-sized newsletter is leaving you a bit hungry, go to nowandnext.com for something more substantial (and that's free too). --------------------------------- : BRAINMAIL LIVE If you are considering a future focused speaker for your next conference, workshop, or other event ask your speaker agency about Richard Watson or contact him direct via nowandnext.com. Richard is the creator of brainmail (along with Matt and Phil). --------------------------------- : SMALL PRINT The material appearing in brainmail is sourced from a variety of usually reliable publications worldwide. However, we cannot guarantee the truthfulness of stories and a degree of commonsense should be applied before quoting or using any material in a commercial context. If something appears to be too good to be true it probably is.