Chief Prognosticator

Computers and simulation programs are becoming more and more powerful. What’s the apex for this field of engineering and computer science? Computers which can model the real world, in real time! Think of it as one step away from The Matrix.

Here’s a great example. Flomerics, a leading computer simulation engineering firm which specializes in fluid flow and heat transfer simulations (some of the hardest stuff around!), recently used their powerful FLOVENT software to model the effects of wingsuits used for base jumping. This sort of software is not just cool but is extremely valuable too. Companies use it to figure out stuff from how to cool computer processors and electronics to how to build better skyscrapers (which are under extreme wind pressure constantly). Amazing!

What could Apple Inc do to keep their crown as top innovator? Well there are two lists to be made. The first is product improvements and the second is new products. Please share your thoughts.
Improvements:
- Thinner iPhone / iPod. Is there a new type of solid state memory out there being developed which could shrink these devices more?
- Apple (hd)TV. Make it 1080p capable and stock those movies on iTune!
- iMac Air. Think about it… an even thinner iMac ala Macbook Air. Make it float in the air too!
New Products:
- iPod Nano + Watch? Wear it on your wrist.
- iPod Shuffle the size of earbuds. Keep the cord connecting both ears just for show.
- A way to expand screen size. My personal favorite idea. I’ve written about it before. Screens so thin that they stack when not in use, but then can fold out to a 2×1 or 2×2 array in your hand!

According to a study done by Merck Medco, about 50% of all adults in the U.S. who have insurance are on long term prescription medicine. This means they take a medicine on an ongoing basis like that for high blood pressure or high cholesterol. What do these study findings mean and is it necessarily a good thing or a bad thing? Or mixed?

Unhealthy Population
Does this figure of 50% mean that the population is more unhealthy than ever? Looking at the obesity rate for adults (and children) we see that America has never been fatter, so this data support that?
Better Medicine
Maybe this data shows that science and medicine has done a great job of developing medicines which treat chronic conditions (which always existed) and therefore extend life and quality of life. That’s a good thing, if you can afford it.
Sales and Marketing Pressured
This data could just be evidence that the sales and marketing divisions of Pharma companies are getting too good. With a plethora of television, radio and magaine advertisements. Try to think about how many ads you’ve seen this week for ED, Depression, Cholesteral, and Birth Control!

I don’t know about you but by the time I was in my mid-20s, I pretty much figured out how mortgages work and the different kinds of them out there. This was also about the time that I took out a 3-year adjustable rate mortgage on my house! But there was a method to my madness — I knew we were moving in before that three years were up.

But with the current mortgage crisis in the U.S, it looks like many people are confused. With so many different types of Mortgages out there for the average consumer to select from, there are many ways to get confused. What is a good rate? Should I go fixed or variable rate? How much cash should I put down? All these questions can be met with just as confusing answers depending on where you look. If you feel you are one of these folks who are not exactly sure which mortgage is right, make sure you do your research well before you are forced to make a decision. Making decisions under pressure gets a lot worse when you aren’t comfortable with the subject matter.

How will developed countries deal with limits to CO2 emissions? The Cap and Trade method seems like a good, capitalism-based method to create an incentive to reduce emissions. In a Cap and Trade system, the amount of CO2 emissions would be “Capped” (limited) to a certain annual amount. Companies which emit less than the cap would be able to sell their excess “polluting capacity” to companies which are over the cap (this is the “trade” part). Sounds bad? Well sure, selling pollution rights is bad, but think about the outcomes. There would then be an economic incentive NOT to pollute, namely the ability to make more money. If the total sum of the caps were kept constant (or decrease annually), pollution levels would drop while companies would be able to make money. It’s really the best hope I see for us.

Did you notice or did it sneak under your radar? I’m talking about the new way Music is being sold in stores. Sure it’s old fashioned CDs but now they are being sold with the digital copy (MP3) included in the purchase price. Of course you can easily convert a CD to MP3 once you get it home, but these new packages include the digital download with the CD Price. Another trend is to sell a “cheap” ($9.99) CD only price (that’s significantly less expensive than CDs were a decade ago) and an “enhanced” release ($14.99 or more) with included music videos, exclusive content, or concert footage. Will these new techniques be enough to keep the music CD alive? Nah, but it has at least slowed down the decline.

Do you know who Virginia Dare was? She was the first English baby born in the New World. She signified a new generation of immigrants who would eventually colonize an entire continent. So my question is, who will be the Virginia Dare of the 21st century. I’m talking about the moon or Mars! Eventually (maybe not in the 21st century, but then for sure in the 22nd century) a baby will be born outside of Earth. That will be itself a new era in human civilization. Who will it be and where will he/she come from?

Seriously — what’s going to happen if and when coastal waters continue to rise and start to reclaim inhabited land? I mean, what happened to New Orleans could only be the start. What if Manhattan, Miami, Galveston, and other major coastal cities start to be encroached by rising cost lines. Sure the rise would be gradual but there would come a point where the effect would be noticed. What could be done then?

Want to unlock the secret to driving innovation? It’s easy — make a contest. No seriously, when you leave innovation up to businesses (especially publicly traded ones), you end up with slow innovation. Profits are more important than taking risks, so what you’re left with is just enough innovation to stay competitive.

No the real way to drive innovation is to make it into a competition. Think about probably the greatest contest of all time — the race to the moon. Who was competing? The U.s and the Soviet Union! Two superpower governments with billions and trillions of dollars behind them. Now that was a contest which pushed the limits of innovation. Now, on a smaller scale, there are contests like the Lunar X-Prize and the 100-MPG Car contest which push small, private teams to do really big things. Sure there can be corporate sponsors to these activities, but the real name of the game is competition. This is how we will take the next giant leaps for humanity.

Here’s another bold prediction out of the Chief Prognosticator lair — the next Mini-Mac won’t be mini anymore, it will be nano!

With the release of the MacBook Air, the ultra-thin laptop, it only makes sense that the next Mac mini will be a lot smaller. Sure it’s small now, hence the “Mini” tag, but Apple is known for going from Mini to Nano in a blink of an eye. Watch for this prediction to come true!

[Photo from APPLE.COM]