Japanese cellular service company NTT DoCoMo, has recently demonstrated a smartphone cloud-based app that allows users speaking different languages to communicate with one another by translating their conversation into each other’s language. The technology has implications for the global hospitality industry, business travelers, translators and, of course, any student desiring to learn a second language.

To better understand the future, you need to think about the future. For those of you 40 years or older, ponder this question: In the age of FaceBook, will reunions even be necessary? A counter question for those of you under 25 years of age to consider is this: If you are still FaceBooking your…

Dear Readers: I just learned that TED (Technology, Education and Design) is soliciting one-minute video applications for the honor of earning the right to present at its 2012 TED. Since I had some free time on my hands this afternoon (and because I’d love the chance to present at TED), I put together this clip….

One of my favorite stories about the power of exponential growth is a story about the pond and the water lily, and it can help anyone that needs to be jolted out of their current—or what I called their linear—mode of thinking. In a nutshell, here’s the story: Imagine a small pond that sprouts a…

For reasons I can’t entirely recall now, my freshman year of high school began on Friday, September 1, 1978–the day before the Labor Day weekend, or, what is traditionally regarded as the last official weekend of summer. I will never forget the very first lesson of my first class–Social Studies I. It began promptly at…

This June I will be giving a keynote presentation on unlearning at the Midwest Society of Association Executive’s annual meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Below is a short two-minute YouTube clip I put together at the request of the organization. The title of my keynote is “The Future’s Next Great Challenge: A Steep Unlearning Curve.” Related…

I speak frequently on the topic of emerging technologies as a futurist and a keynote speaker. One of the most common questions I receive after my talks is whether I view technology as a net positive or a net negative. I don’t view it as either. Technology has been always been a “doubled-edged” sword. For…

I haven’t yet seen the new documentary, Transcendent Man, which based upon the ideas of Ray Kurzweil but I’m looking forward to it. I realize many people are extremely uncomfortable with his ideas but I believe they have a great deal of merit for one simple reason: Evolution is exponential. From my perspective, Ray Kurzweil…

Following up on yesterday’s post in which I reviewed how some of my past predictions have played out, I now invite you to review a short video clip for a new “crowd-sourced” movie entitled “Life in a Day.” Although I predicted it would a best-selling song that would be crowd-sourced by 2011, the production of…