Pizza Hut recently made a splash when it announced it had a drone deliver a pizza to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Clearly aimed at generating publicity, the stunt drives home a powerful point–global markets once considered unreachable are now within reach. In Pizza Hut’s case, the company is serious about growing its presence in…

On May 23, 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson set out from San Francisco on America’s first great road trip. A mere 63 days later, he safely arrived in New York City. Today, Jackson’s journey might not sound extraordinary but remember at the time of his trip there were no road signs, no gas stations and only…

With summer just around the corner many of us will quench our thirst on hot days with an ice-cold beer. Now, thanks to some creative and innovative entrepreneurs in South Africa, you may soon be able to have that ice-cold beer delivered to you via a miniature drone. (See the 45-second video below). While obviously…

As a futurist, I spend a surprisingly large amount of time simply helping my clients and audiences see what is already here today. To put this in a contemporary context consider the photo to the right of Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), the “brash but brilliant” main character in the upcoming sci-fi thriller Iron Man…

Most of us are familiar with the famous classroom dictum: i before e except after c. It is helpful most of the time but not always. For example, do you find it weird that the word “weird” isn’t spelled wierd? If you wish to stay open to unlearning, it’s helpful to remember that every rule…

In the early 1960’s, Andy Warhol made experimental music videos with the Velvet Underground. Today, thanks to low-cost computers, the Internet and platforms such as YouTube, millions of people are making their own music videos. In this same way, in New York City and other locations, innovators are today experimenting with 3D manufacturing. Tomorrow, millions…

#1. First Heart A-Hack Victim. In January, an Arizona socialite will be charged with murder after it was uncovered she hired a former disgruntled employee of a leading medical device firm to hack into her cheating husband’s pacemaker and deliver a lethal shock to his heart. Shares of the company’s stock will plummet on the…

Last week, I shared with you 10 ways Google’s new “Project Glass” might change the world around us. Smithsonian is now reporting that some clever innovators are already experimenting with the technology to deliver real-time foreign voice translation. The video below is a little slow and the wearer’s googles look quite unappealing but I encourage…

As I wrote in an earlier post, Google is only 13 years old; Facebook is a mere 8 years old; and the iPhone just turned five. Each has impacted the world in some surprising and unexpected ways. From my perspective as a futurist, Google’s “Project Glass” (which offers enhanced augmented reality as well as the…

As a frequent keynote and conference speaker, I’m constantly looking for ways to connect with my audiences. One of the better methods to help them understand and appreciate how the future may—or may not—change is to use common cultural references. One of my favorite ways of doing this is to share interesting insights from Hollywood…