The Third Wave of Technology

Steve Case, the co-founder of AOL, has recently launched a new book titled, The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future, in which he explains the three waves of technology and focuses on the profound significance of the third which we are just beginning to surf.  

The first wave was the technological creation of the internet itself. The second wave has been the prolific creation of applications and software built on top of the internet – e.g. Facebook, Google, Twitter, PayPal, Amazon, etc. The third wave of the internet, according to Case, is the concept of the Internet of Everything, whereby almost every part of our daily lives will be digitised and conducted on the internet. This third wave might even see our brains somehow integrated into the internet thereby giving us instant access to all the world’s information without having to “Google” it – instead we just think it and we have it.

For some the third wave of the internet may seem unbearably intrusive (imagine the internet in your brain) or just downright unnatural, which I think it is. But let’s not forget that we live in an evolutionary world; the idea of the internet say fifty years ago would have probably seemed just as unbearable and likewise unnatural as how the third wave of technology appears to us now. The next generation, particularly children, will be growing up in this third age without even knowing it; they will take it entirely for granted and therefore see it as something entirely normal and possibly even natural. What we don’t know, however, is whether this third wave will drown us in a sea of overwhelming information (or disinformation), noise and confusion – only time will tell whether we want to surf this wave or not.

SexTech, ohhh yeeaahh

Are you ready for tech to transform your sex life? You better be! Zaboo is pioneering the SexTech sector with a new aphrodisiapp which guides you through exploring and, most importantly, learning about your sexual self. The mission behind Zaboo is to break the social taboo around performing socially unacceptable sexual activities both with and without magically exciting sex toys and other aids (aka dildoes).

Sexual taboos are an interesting social phenomenon because whether we admit it or not to ourselves and others people, we all have wild fantasies or at least the odd thought of doing something sexually adventurous, which if said out loud would create shock and horror amongst even our best of friends.

Zaboo app aims to help educate and guide users (either individually or as partners) about the many sexual activities out there and will advise on the best ways for performing and exploring these sexual adventures. Zaboo also rewards users for engaging in certain activities and will send “surprise gifts” to spark fantasies and provide further motivation for those who are feeling a little reluctant. Again, Zaboo is not just about gratifying one’s desires but rather, learning, exploring and appreciating one of the strongest biological drivers behind our existence, namely that of sexual intercourse for the purpose of procreation and the joy it brings to each and every one of us, including the entire animal kingdom and even plants 😉

Renewable Gyms

Ever been to a gym and thought, gosh there is a lot of energy being used/wasted here simply so people can go running on the spot? Treadmills use massive amounts of energy and by extension gymnasiums consume a gigaload more. But what if all the human energy in gyms could be captured and stored in batteries to power those many energy-consuming machines? Well, Sacromento EcoFitness is doing exactly that; harnessing human power to power gymnasiums.

I am a gym junky myself and have spent all too many hours lifting iron up and down and running round and round on treadmills, let alone all my energy output in spin classes, which I’m addicted to. This is why I love the mission of Sacramento EcoFitness. So many times I have thought about the amount of energy either used in gyms (e.g. treadmills) or that could be captured in other classes (e.g. spin class, HIIT, etc.) Some of Sacramento’s technology will do just that, capture the spent energy on machines. But perhaps the most innovative piece of technology being implemented is that of ‘Smart Floors’ which capture energy from weights being dropped on the floor along with any other forms of impact made during exercise. The vision behind Sacramento EcoFitness is for gymnasiums to become effectively energy neutral – instead of drawing from the grid, these gyms will draw on the power of humans exercising like mad – and I’m all for it. Right, I’m off to the gym!