Welcome to this 83rd issue of our newsletter “Weak Signals and other Trends”. Each week, I sift through hundreds of sources of inspiration to track where we’re heading. If you are a new subscriber to this newsletter, take the time to send me a note and introduce yourself, I love to understand who is reading.
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I am sending this newsletter this week from Montreal, Canada. This is what I noticed these past couple of weeks, thank you for sharing this newsletter with those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots.
Microsoft, Meta and others face rising drought risk to their data centers. Inside the software that will become the next battle front in US-China chip war. Dynamic pricing is coming to food delivery. Airlines' next struggle? Where to plug in their planes. The University of California business model is crumbling under the weight of the cost of living. Boom, Bust and Disruption in the Furniture Industry. The Baby blindspot from the pandemic. The Global Rise of Unhappiness and How Leaders Missed It.
Our future
Sponge cities. Space-based solar power beams will soon be powering our cities. Redefining the home for the Third Age. Ice Cream Made From Microbes. Container Shipping Industry Passes Earnings Peak. The ties that bind in an interconnected world. Dine-in tech. Connecting grieving ones with deceased ( remember that video?). Global risks 2035 update. Alzheimer's drug lecanemab hailed as momentous breakthrough. Shaping 2025 and Beyond.
2023 reports: 2023 Trend Check.
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter.
Weak signals
Weak signals are indicators of a change, a trend or an emerging risk that might become significant for the future. They allow us to run hypothesis, expand our thinking, and challenge assumptions. How will you interpret those in your industry or field of expertise?
Rewear in black. Tesco puts security tags on milk. Who Americans spend their time with. Social media apology letters. The quietest place on earth. Netflix still operates a mail-order DVD business. The average-sized home in every US state. The anti-work movement. Nestlé to debut plant-based chocolate chips. Modern Milkman laps up £50m funding. Task pods. New ordinance lets police robots use lethal force.
Numbers
50- 50% of UK and US homes have a voice assistant of some sort.
42- Sales of electric scooters in France grew 42% in 2021
37- About 37 percent of homes in Poland are heated by coal
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that lead me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors: “A rabbit hole is not a distraction. A rabbit hole is your brain trying to tell you to pay attention to something you’re curious about. Ignore algorithmic rabbit holes” ( by are.na)
This weeks, I discovered: A collection of 885 blogs about every topic.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
Growth and Fixed Mindsets. Extreme numbers are getting new names because we’re creating that much new data. Why writing by hand is still the best way to retain information. Starbucks Case Study. The vanity of learning. The Toxic History of Color. The state of global payments. Serendipity by design. Noise pollution maps. What the Analog Inventions of the 20th Century Teach Us About the Digital Inventions of the 21st.
I like new words, this week I learned about diglossia, quoting St Exupery:
“As for the future, your task is not to foresee, but to enable it.”
Feeling good
Salty. A curated selection of music for listening and dancing in closed spaces. The tail end. National parks worldwide. Talk to books.
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