Archive for January, 2012

Monday, January 30th, 2012

Driverless Cars

So the story goes….

In 1895, or so, there were only two cars in Ohio and they managed to hit head on….

Maybe it was Illinois….

Truth is I heard this story when I was younger – could never find its source – assume it’s apocryphal – but maybe it has a point….

Looks like Google’s driverless cars had their first accident – now – is the story apocryphal? Judge for yourself – but I figure that it’s only a matter of time anyway.

Cars are the new iPads. Ford uses the Consumer Electronic Show, in Las Vegas, to showcase and introduce its latest and greatest, and let me tell you their technology is amazing.

Some Fords can park themselves; have radar for your blind spots; use voice control and on and on. Critical to them, by the way, is that everything they do allows you to have 2 hands on the wheel – always.

But that is for now. The ultimate driving experience will be when we sit back – enjoy the technology – probably mostly speaking and texting – in one form or another while the car drives itself. And, when you look at Ford and BMW and others, there is no doubt we are on the way – despite the 2-hand limitation of today.

Legislation in the US already allows driverless cars on the roads – in some states – and more will follow.

There is also a new legal expertise being developed – who do you sue in case of an accident? How do you insure? Can a cop pull you over? Sounds trivial but think about it…

Seems to me the real question though is the loss of human skill and intervention. Look – clearly – we haven’t done that great a job – too many people still die in needless car accidents – usually because of human fault – drunkenness, negligence, tiredness, whatever…

But here is a scenario – the GPS satellites that “drive” the cars get hacked – what happens? Frankly the possible outcomes are too scary to think about.

Bottom line – it will come when it does – and no doubt there will be glitches and accidents and sadly deaths – make no mistake…

But my issue isn’t with fear of the technology – it’s the fear of losing touch – the human element that while not perfect…is exactly why it’s so perfect and in my opinion never actually duplicable.

It’s my total worship of Sully and Flight 1549 – no computer could have saved those people – and it’s my admiration for the Waldorf Schools and the insight that the Tech Elite have in sending their kids there.

And I love what one of the kids had to say:

“Besides, if you learn to write on paper, you can still write if water spills on the computer or the power goes out.”
Finn Heilig, 10, whose father works at Google

One day we will be passengers in a High Tech cocoon interacting not with the road but with the environment – at least until we have teleports…

However…listen

“Computers are magnificent tools for the realization of our dreams, but no machine can replace the human spark of spirit, compassion, love, and understanding.”
Louis Gerstner

Now I’m pushing it – I know – but maybe not – many people are emotionally attached to their cars…LOL…but that wasn’t my point.

As we get more and more dependent on computers doing our work – let’s never lose sight of the humanity in anything…

I write this from Berlin – where today I toured the Holocaust Museum and kept wondering how much greater the horror would have been had they had computers…..

Never lose sight…..

What do you think?

 

 

Posted by David on 01/30 at 05:48 PM
Monday, January 23rd, 2012

SOPA & PIPA

SOPA & PIPA

No, those are not sisters of Kate; nor are they foods, Italian acrobats, prized dogs or special names for grandparents….

They are the acronyms for two ill-fated and possibly ill-conceived pieces of legislation that were in front of the Unites States Congress:

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

The Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA)

Ill-fated because a wildfire online social swell caused its backers to back off.

Ill-conceived because I don’t believe it was handled right.

Look, at the end of the day it’s all about freedom – the right to free speech and the fear of stifling innovation.

On the other hand, creators of unique content and IP have the freedom to own and protect their creations and you and I have the freedom to share or not share our own digital selves.

And there is the sticking point – the conflict – the tension.

There are a lot of freedoms at stake here and at some point either we trust companies and people to be honest brokers and protect and defend our rights as much as their own, or we legislate and force the issue.

Now, I have written a lot about how I feel regarding anonymous posters – posters of good and posters of bad – as well as my worries about the lack of protection for those who create the kind of content and innovation that lasts through the ages.

However, there is a balance. There are places where people can’t speak out for fear of imprisonment or death; there are people who are reticent to ask questions or seek help under their own names; there are people who create and develop and innovate using other’s ideas as platforms and catapults….

Overriding all, however, is the fear of censorship and government interference.

So there you have it. On Sunday I heard Viviane Reding, the EU Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, discuss the issue and present the EU’s position and direction at DLD in Munich.

I also heard Dean Hachamovitch, a Microsoft Corporate VP, discuss the issue and demonstrate its complexities – for example, by landing on just one news site you might be tracked by 15 or more separate sources, all feeding into that one site – a privacy nightmare….

Also, Jack Dorsey of Twitter and a bunch of others all swirling around the same issue – but no one really wanting to admit that a Wild West solution is acceptable.

The lone dissenter was Andrew Keen whose book Digital Vertigo is set for June publishing, who believes that we need to take back our privacy – now.

But here is the thing – we make out as if the whole issue has been created by the digital world – as if it never existed before – as if during the age of audio tape companies didn’t worry about piracy – as if in the fashion and watch worlds people don’t worry about piracy – as if in the old-fashioned mail order world of 100-plus years ago people didn’t worry about privacy and data protection.

Listen:

“The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.”

– Albert Einstein

And there you have it.

The U.S. Congress needed to discuss the underlying issues – not the digital veneer – and they needed to enlist all of the digital channels as well.

All of these issues existed before – but the efficiency and ubiquity of digital exacerbates the issue. So as old Albert said – it is now urgent.

We need protection and we need openness – we can’t trample one person’s freedoms for another’s – but the problem isn’t new – only getting worse….

What do you think?

Posted by David on 01/23 at 04:16 PM
Monday, January 16th, 2012

A National Holiday in the U.S.

Discounts!!

Special sales merchandise!!!!!

Day Off!!!!!!!!!

Must be a national holiday in the United States….

And it is.

Monday marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day…a National Holiday in the United States – established with some controversy – still contentious, no doubt, amongst some quarters – but in general has achieved the same status of other National Holidays – that is day off for retail shopping.

Frankly, many in the US – maybe even most – have lost the plot for these special days. Sadly days that could be used for national and even international reflection have become little more than time out entitlement.

To that end – I have always tried to share a reflection or two on the Days that I thought were universal or rather had universal appeal – so, for example, on Columbus Day you won’t find me sharing thoughts…unless it’s on the dangers of colonization which I don’t believe was the point of the day…maybe it should be…

However, of all the days, MLK Day speaks to me the closest in as I remember him; remember his speeches; remember how as boy of 9 or so he entered my consciousness and shaped my thinking. And of course I remember with horror the day he was murdered and the sadness I felt – a personal loss…like I had known him…and the fear I felt for the hatred behind it.

To that end I’d like to share a thought of his. The truth is he was a global symbol – still is – and his words resonate today as they did back then – to all.

Listen:

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

A lesson for all of us. How easy it is to be confined by what we see in front of us; by our “9 to 5” existence; by our friends and family – all good and all important – but narrow nevertheless.

In memory….

What do you think?

 

Posted by David on 01/16 at 02:03 PM