Eight business technology trends to watch

McKinsey's continue to have some interesting news - here is some of their latest on technology... Eight emerging trends are transforming many markets and businesses. Executives should learn to shape the outcome rather than just react to it. Technology alone is rarely the key to unlocking economic value: companies create real wealth when they combine technology with new ways of doing business. Through our work and research, we have identified eight technology-enabled trends that will help shape businesses and the economy in coming years. These trends fall within three broad areas of business activity: managing relationships, managing capital and assets, and leveraging information in new ways.

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Talks Kevin Kelly: How does technology evolve? Like we did

Which impacts what first? Source

Nassim Taleb on the future of capitialism

Nassim Taleb, author of the Black Swan has some interesting thoughts here... Source

Wireless Electricity Is Here (Seriously)

I'm standing next to a Croatian-born American genius in a half-empty office in Watertown, Massachusetts, and I'm about to be fried to a crisp. Or I'm about to witness the greatest advance in electrical science in a hundred years. Maybe both. Either way, all I can think of is my electrician, Billy Sullivan. Sullivan has 11 tattoos and a voice marinated in Jack Daniels. During my recent home renovation, he roared at me when I got too close to his open electrical panel: "I'm the Juice Man!" he shouted. "Stay the hell away from my juice!" He was right. Only gods mess with electrons. Only a fool would shoot them into the air. And yet, I'm in a conference room with a scientist who is going to let 120 volts fly out of the wall, on purpose.

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Nation's First Green Gym to Run On Human-Generated Energy

Shedding pounds and expending energy is no longer just good for you – it's also a way to give back to the environment. The Green Microgym, based in Portland, Oregon, is the nation's first gym that aims to use human-generated energy from clients as they work out. Adam Boesel, the gym's owner, hopes that in the future the gym will run entirely on the energy generated by clients. While the science behind generating energy from spinning wheels – commonly used in much of the exercise equipment installed in gyms – the issue at hand thus far has been how to adapt the technology and find the right equipment. A Texas-based company, Henry Works is currently developing a device called the Human Dynamo, which Boesel's Microgym hopes to use. The dynamo connects a number of exercise bikes with a battery that stores the energy generated as people exercise. Appliances like lamps or televisions can then be plugged into the box in order to utilize this power. Although installing the energy-generating equipment is expensive, if gyms can pony up enough to do so, they stand to save significantly in the long-term. And as with all technology, the expectation is that the further the concept is developed the more affordable and viable it will become.