I had to doublecheck, but I read it correctly: ‘Fake music’. How can music be fake? Unless we’re looking at something pretending to be something else. But that’s not it. ‘Fake music’ is real. Apparently I’m listening to it every day. What makes it ‘fake’?
Perspective
You may have heard about space pollution. And no, it’s not about littering (remaining) open spaces in our cities, it’s about space. The skies if you like. We’ve managed to pollute every corner of the Earth and relentlessly continued with space. Is it time to leave?
The banker: “With all this money you and your children will be secure forever. You will not have to worry about a thing.” The old lady: “Sounds like a curse to me!”
Customer service used to be just that – service: A helpful voice at the other end of a swift phone call. That’s long gone. Helpful became dreadful. For the last 10-20 years, customer service has become something to avoid at almost all cost. Because life’s too short – for the wait and the annoyance. Which makes the following question interesting: What happens when you suddenly meet real customer service?
“Work on Things That Matter” is a quote from a keynote speech by Tim O’Reilly some 15 years ago. It stuck. So simple, direct and obvious, yet so easily forgotten. What if we make this our motto every day?
Your medical records need protection. Not from spies, hackers and nosy neighbors but from bureaucrats, politicians and all kinds of ‘data protection agencies’. They don’t care about you. They care about themselves. They have ‘bullshit jobs’ to protect – and may kill you in the process. You’ve heard, read or seen…
Going all electric – in a hurry – is the solution to our climate challenge, according to both experts and pundits. It sounds reasonable, the goal and the arguments are convincing. They also ignore reality. The climate challenge is not just about energy.
A seemingly universal consensus: The world needs more energy. And it has to be clean. Fossil is out, renewable is in – etc. etc. etc. You know the drill – it’s everywhere, all day. What if it’s wrong? The metrics, the goals, the premise?
We’ve heard it for years. From climate change deniers in particular and from politicians, business people and (almost) everyone else. While denying reality, many claim tech will fix it anyway. Wishful thinking indeed, but the premise is correct. Tech won’t fix it, but tech may actually save us.
My previous post, AI’s notorious lack of intelligence, raised quite a few eyebrows – judging from the (inspiring) feedback. The distance between hype and reality is huge, the misunderstandings and disappointments plentiful while big money seems to be pouring in from salivating investors. What are we missing?