Nokia: 10 Years Ago

Forbes cover 10 years ago. pic.twitter.com/EBlHpdRDsl

— Mikko Hypponen (@mikko) November 12, 2017

Asteroid Belt And Earth On The Way To Mars

Spending a year in weightless space is a nightmare for the human body. But the push for Mars might have benefits closer to home. And robotic travel will harvest the asteroid belt. A few hundred years ago spices were scarce and literally gold. The asteroid belt could turn gold into a commodity.

Elon Musk’s New Plan: Travel from New Delhi to Tokyo in 30 Minutes https://t.co/KG8GeNq1vE

— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) November 7, 2017

Delhi to Tokyo in 30 minutes, says Elon Musk. That translates to anywhere to anywhere on earth in 30 minutes. That is more alluring for human tourism (and commerce) than zooming vertically to the boundaries of from where all you see is pitch black before you come back.

Blue Origin's Breakthrough Means SpaceX Finally Has a Competitor https://t.co/tNLtYbkBd7 via @Futurism

— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) November 7, 2017

But if you move information well enough, fast enough, in large enough quantities, securely enough, and from every point to every other point on earth, human beings perhaps can get by on less travel in the first place. The vision of 4,000 satellites carrying the bulk of internet traffic is sound. And it beats going to Mars. Such a spacenet would be indispensable for the Internet Of Things with its hundreds of billions of sensors, its top use being to keep the earthly ecosystem at its optimum best. Human safety and security would be a whole new paradigm.

SpaceX to kick off 4,425-strong satellite constellation launch in 2019 https://t.co/2PSHUqRViu

— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) November 7, 2017

SpaceX aims to bring super-fast satellite internet to Earth in 2019 https://t.co/SGLDBLidzE via @MailOnline

— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) November 7, 2017

Elon Musk Wants to Begin Launching SpaceX's 4,000 Internet Satellites in 2019 https://t.co/LyxpW9IOoF via @FortuneMagazine

— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) November 7, 2017

Movie Making Trends

Movies are about to enter a whole different realm, mostly for the good. Some of the trends are:

(1) A Screen In Nearly Every Hand

The smartphone will get there before the broadband will, but the connectivity will get there fast enough. It is a legitimate expectation that people should be able to watch new releases on their own screens. You could charge 10 million people $10 each in a theater, or you could charge a billion people one cent each. Or that cent could be an ad they opt to watch. The numbers work. Micro-payments will become much more of an option.

(2) Reduced Production Costs

A small crew dabbling in the art form could do all the camera work on a smartphone and all the editing on a computer today. That opens up the floodgates of production. Every language, every culture can have its own movie industry. Every such industry has a ready global audience among the scattered peoples, all connected. Let a thousand flowers bloom. That also creates a spectrum of success. A movie making 100 K can meet someone's definition of robust business. A movie making 10 K can. What if you could earn a living making 10 minute long movies? Does that beat serving tables?

(3) Really Big

The small can do brisk business. But the big can get really big. A global super hit movie could make outsize money.

(4) Computer Graphics And Animation

For what you can show on the screen, the imagination is now the limit. You don't have to actually build a physical set. Which means it is possible to have small high tech studios. Right now the costs are high. But they will go down. Spices used to be gold. Now they are commodity. The liberation of the background should give added focus to the human element. Movies have to be thought of as therapy sessions for society at large.

(5) The Script

Some things never change. It boils down to the story, not the technology. Ultimately it is about telling a good story. That ancient art has currency.