Monday, February 07, 2011

Food/Social = Physics, Coding = Mathematics

German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.Image via WikipediaEinstein, the most celebrated physicist in human history, my favorite Dead White Male, started out struggling with maths. Much later in life he liked to joke that he was still struggling with maths. Early memories die hard. The key mathematics that gave shape to the Relativity, he had to ask around for. A mathematician friend of his led him in that direction.

What Einstein started with was physics. It really bothered him that light rays bent near the sun and no one had bothered explaining why.

Coding is like mathematics. Social is the physics. And the buzz is not here yet beyond a very small circle right now, but food's day will come. If you think about it, food has a very, very special place in the social universe. Food is the crown jewel. By the time you get to the level of food, social becomes dazzling. It becomes like watching the night sky if you are fascinated by stars.

I got a glimpse of that dazzle when I attended the FoodSpotting/Whole Foods panel this morning at 95 E Houston. I was amazed by the venue. It seems like Google is not the only dog in town with an office building that occupies an entire block.

2015: A Mobile Tech Company Will Storm The Room

iPhone 4 - Ese maldito puntoImage by Emiliano Elias via FlickrYou did not foresee Netscape in 1990, or Google in 1995, you did not foresee Facebook in 2000. I have a feeling there will be a similarly monumental mobile tech company that will enter the scene around 2015. It is hard to predict what shape or form it will take. It is even harder to locate the founder. But she/he will sure worth be betting on, even if you can only come into her round two, or round three. But such visionaries are hard to locate even when they have already entered round three.

Over time I am going to try and foresee the details of such a company. But I admit right now I have no clue. Broad generalizations don't count. But let me take a crack at the situation.

Sunday, February 06, 2011

Could You Have Predicted A Google In 1990?

Mandelbrot p1130861Image via WikipediaOr a Facebook in 2000? I think not.

Predicting the far future is not hard, it is impossible. Or at least it is impossible according to the fractals theory by one of my favorite thinkers Mandelbrot who died a few months ago.

Fractals: Mandelbrot
Fractals And FoodSpotting

I like Eric Schmidt, but nobody has the crystal ball to see the technology scene as it might stand 50 years from now. Even broad generalizations are hard to make. Specifics are outright impossible.

Nelly Furtado: Night Is Young