The Day the Earth Stood Still

July 6, 2008

I recently saw a trailer for the remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, a 1951 movie about an alien visit to earth.  This is not a post about movies though.

As I was checking it out, I watched the trailer for the 1951 movie, which I have never seen.  I thought to myself how old everything looked, and how it must have been so ahead of its time when it first came out.  It got me to thinking about a few things.

We always consider the latest and greatest technology to be this incredible advancement into the future.  But years later you can look back and almost laugh about how old it has become.  Today, technology is moving at the speed of light, and we have an endless array of gadgets to choose from on a daily basis.  What will people twenty years from now when they look back at the original iPhone?  Will it look like something from the middle ages compared to the technological advancements of the time?

What does the future hold in store and who will bring it to us?  Voice recognition technology is at the height of its growth and development.  What will that be used for in the future?  Will we be able to control everything just by speaking?  Will buttons ever be needed to control anything?

What about energy?  Can something like hydrogen provide us with all the power we need?  If so, who is going to make it cheap and easy to use on an individual basis?  Or will batteries become so powerful, and so small, that we won’t need other forms of electricity in our day to day lives?

All of these questions, and many more, bring to light how far we have come, and how far we can continue to go.  It is interesting to think about what will be next.  It takes certain people with great foresight to see how far we can take the technological inventions of today.  The innovators among us carry us forward.  I wonder what’s next.

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Posted by Zach Heller

Religions, Traditions, and the Anti-Innovators

July 3, 2008

Established rules, guidelines, by-the-book procedures, and traditions.  These are all forms of innovation killers.  You here all the time about people and industries that are “set in their ways”.  Anyone or anything who is set in his or her way will not only be content to stay where they are, they will not even accept helpful change when it is presented to them.

Religion is a huge area that conforms to this very problem.  Religions the world over are governed by long standing doctrines and principles, with very little room for change and growth.  It is the very constant and traditional nature of things that make religion appealing to a lot of people.  However, it is those same rigid guidelines that limit the opportunity for change, and the spread of innovative ideals.

Any industry that is bound by traditions will be the slowest to accept new technology and individual advancements that make life better.  It seems that the more social status we give to certain positions, the more we expect them to conform to yesterday’s ideals.  Why is that the larger, longstanding companies are slower to adapt than the smaller companies and startups, yet we still admire them for sticking with their guns?

Maybe if industry leaders were quick to change, the entire industry would move at a faster rate.  Maybe if religions were more open to outside influences, we would not have to constantly debate its place in society.  And maybe, if we were lucky, violence in the name of “god” would ease up.  Innovation is about ideas, and the spread of something new.  Those who are willing to accept is are moving towards tomorrow.  Those who are not, are clinging to the 1900′s.  Let go.

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Posted by Zach Heller

The Head Nod Theory

July 1, 2008

In the world today, we are moving at the speed of light.  Our business lives and social lives have been moving faster and faster over the years.  We tend to think of our time as the most valuable thing, and we do not want to waste it.  We want everything instantly, and create and use technologies that help us get it that way.

Even the smallest things have been reduced to their simplest forms.  “Thank you” as become “thanks”.  “Good morning” has become “morning”.  “God Bless You” has become “bless you”.  And a simple head nod has replaced any kind of greeting.  We are moving along so quickly in life that our words and interactions must be limited to a least common denominator.

Now while all of those examples are trivial, and I used them somewhat jokingly, we do have to take notice of the sudden need for speed.  In today’s economy, business deals get done in the blink of an eye.  The time for major analysis and back and forth negotiation has past.  Those businesses that have made the leap and taken the risks to move forward at a faster pace have been most successful.  Hesitation can kill you nowadays.  Don’t fall victim to speed, just nod you head and keep moving.

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Posted by Zach Heller

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