Rewirement, body swapping, and seafaring

April 28, 2024

Apr 28, 2024

Welcome to this 125th issue of our newsletter “Weak Signals and other Trends”.

Each week, I personally 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.

Competitive Intelligence

Some of the Most Popular Websites Share Your Data With Over 1,500 Companies. 5 Marketing Trends That Might Not Survive in 2024. Dyson’s AR app shows you where you’ve vacuumed. The Hunt for Grey Swans.

Strategic blindspots and business models

Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots. This section also is about the risks we miss.

Global Outdoor Days. Google considers charging for AI-powered search in big change to business model. Peloton is a media company now. Costco selling up to $200 million in gold bars a month. Les biais de révision. The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat.

Our future

Why are so many young people taking hallucinogens? For many active boomers, retirement is now “rewirement,”. 4-color traffic lights coming for self-driving vehicles ( English version here). Around the future in 80 worlds. Meet the Robots Slicing Your Barbecue Ribs. China’s young ultra-rich seen reshaping wealth management. Designing Personalized AI Agents to Foster Human-Human Connections. Generative AI can turn your most precious memories into photos that never existed.

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?

Employer branding has become a TikTok game. Am I flying on a Boeing? Facing liquidity issues, Tupperware could go out of business. Saudis Scale Back Ambition for $1.5 Trillion Desert Project . No-bath apartments win over Japan's minimalist youth. Millennials and Gen Z Like to Splurge on Groceries. The girl Internet. Neopets’ nostalgic revival tripled users in six months. Uber Lost and Found.

Book a speaking engagement about weak signals and emerging trends.

Down the rabbit hole

This section highlights a subject that led 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 week, I explored body swapping with Viggle.

Hodgepodge discovery

Articles for curious minds and the polymaths

Most work is new work, long-term study of U.S. census data shows. Navigating the Challenges and Opportunities of Synthetic Voices. A history of the American economy through stadium names. A 600-Year-Old Blueprint for Weathering Climate Change. 6 Famous Librarians Who Changed History.

Numbers that mean something

50%+- More than half of companies in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and Germany employ at least three generations

$51.6 - Private equity has plowed into the pet medical business to the tune of $51.6 billion from 2017 to 2023

2.3 million- The book business has found a new hit genre, and it’s children’s books just about Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography, which was released in May 2023, currently have 2.3 million copies in print.

Feeling good

Food mood. One minute park. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.

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Weak signals and other trends