Software necromancers,sologamy, and mad skills
August 5, 2022
Welcome to this 68th 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.
As I did last summer, this newsletter will be published bi-monthly during the months of July and August, returning to the weekly schedule in September.
You can subscribe to this weekly newsletter here to get it directly by mail.
This newsletter was written this time from Athens, Canada. This is what I noticed these past couple of weeks, thank you for sharing this newsletter to those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Data and Competitive Intelligence
The Vogue Business TikTok Trend Tracker. Are Vertical Line Charts Ever a Good Idea? Young People Using Instagram and TikTok To Search. A new browser. What are Chrome Journeys and how do you use them? Who Is Collecting Data from Your Car?
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots.
Instagram rolled out searchable maps that allow users to find popular bars, restaurants, and other locations. Mad skills. A Human Library. Instagram’s new payments feature lets users buy products via DMs. TikTok and YouTube are Gen Z's trusted sources for financial advice. Ford is looking into robot delivery of packages. Membership-based healthcare. Walmart Is Opening Some Teeny-Tiny Stores for Campers.
We have scheduled the dates for 2022 for our “Strategic Blindspot course” . Our next course will be offered in Montreal on October 26-27, 2022. Registrations are now open.
Our future
The consumer trends canvas. Miniature appliances. Smart surfaces. Amazon’s Alexa could turn dead loved ones’ voices into digital assistant. A Space Bubble shield to reflect the sun. Future Consumer 2024. Meta Trending Trend. A million-word novel got censored before it was even shared. How children are living and growing with technology. Switzerland Moves Ahead With Underground Autonomous Cargo Delivery. Travel, simplified. Forecasting versus Envisioning. Adapting to endure. Paris to Berlin in an hour.
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?
ByteDance's CapCut was #5 after getting 169 million downloads in the first six months of 2022. Sologamy, or all about you. Oslo's Secret Future Library Holds Books To Be Published In 100 Years. Extracting Sperm From Dead Soldiers and Using It to Create Children. Mastercard Launches Its First Ever Music Album. The Most Common Dream in Every Country. A field of wheat. What birds can tell us about climate change. So I heard about a software necromancer. DoorDash delivery drivers become the new stars. San Francisco is holding a garbage can beauty pageant. Chevrolet to offer kit to convert gasoline classic cars into EVs.
On our radar
Each summer is the opportunity to catch up on reading, and letting serendipity dictate what we read and explore: World Map of Books. Found in a Library Book.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that lead me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors.
This week, I went down the rabbit hole into Alternative Narratives, a collaborative archive of data visualizations that showcase alternative narratives.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
Designing without depletion. The Irreplaceable Palm Oil Dependency. Paper sizes. Olfactory receptors are not unique to the nose. Brands work with collectives. Critical Dataset Studies Reading List. How Apple's Daisy iPhone recycling robot works. How Money Changes the Way You Think and Feel. Ten Thousand Years of Patriarchy. Why Ice Cream Became the Ultimate American Comfort Food. The last Blockbuster. Naming drugs.
Numbers
50% - Nearly half of drivers use potentially impairing medications
43% - 43% of every VC dollar raised goes into Facebook and Google Ads
17 - celebrities’ lengths of private flight
80% - At age 26, 80% of Americans live less than 100 miles away from the census tract they lived in at 16.
Feeling good
Alternate calendars. Noisy cities. Take a walk with someone on the internet. A human record player. Solari boards: The disappearing sound of airports. Nan Madol, In the space between things. Higher, higher. Re-routing.
Share your favorite issues of the newsletter, or send friends - or random strangers…
And do not miss the next issue:
Revisit: around this time last year, I published issue 22.
Thanks for reading Weak signals and other trends!
Contact me at Competia with your feedback or ideas. Thank you for reading.