Future

To launch the fifth edition of The American Heritage Dictionary, US ad agency Mechanica built a web experience called ‘You Are Your Words‘ based off of the insight that who you are is a reflection of the language you use.  Having recently attended a Noam Chomsky seminar I have a new appreciation of the power of language and role it plays in the evolution of our species, hence the reason this campaign caught my eye (even after watching the horrendous video!).  However the campaign raises another question for me, namely what will happen to the content we have shared with the world after we leave this life?  All the tweets, status updates, photos, videos, likes, +1′s etc will remain, captured in Google, Facebook and the like, and ultimately accessible for many years to come.  If we think about the names we remember throughout history, their exploits and intentions have all been captured by 3rd party authors and artists who have preserved their legacy.  However the digital age changes that, putting the power back into the hands of the individual.  I doubt anyone will write a book about me, or paint my portrait but my personal writing and photography will remain long after I’ve gone and could potentially shape the way people remember me!

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I stumbled upon this beautifully shot stop motion film for the Type Book Store in Toronto where the books come out to play once the sun sets.  It did a great job of making me feel a little warm and sentimental about books.  The vibrant artwork, the feel of print on paper and the ageless character a real book gathers.  Unfortunately I then thought about the 2000 books I have on my Kindle and the moment was lost!  What the video did remind me of though was a great insight be a former mentor of mine who said;

“Books will experience the same fate as the horse.  Once preferred by the masses, they’re now the pastime of the rich and well to do”

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So 2012 is up and running and every info-graphic factory in the world must be in a panic as they scramble to update their stats and facts for information junkies like me.  One of the first ’2012′ info-graphics out the door is this aggregate by Adage which looks to cover off all the social media statistics you could shake a stick at for the first part of the year (pulled from a selection of recent info-graphics that have done the rounds).

Expect to find some interesting insight into the growth and direction of Facebook and twitter as well as a selection of more general behavioural and attitudinal data.  

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The world, as it is every year, has been inundated with ‘next year’ predictions and I’ve been guilty of sharing a few of these already, check out the Millward Brown and JWT decks here.  But before I close down the trend stream for another year I wanted to share one last presentation from digital agency Skive.  Its a well put together showcase of what our digital future will look like over the next 12 months without stating the obvious or pandering to the ridiculous.  Give it a read below.

More digital predictions this time from Millward Brown.  The 12 thoughts put forward in the following presentation are a little more conservative than the 10 trends shared by JWT Intelligence and in many cases are simply extensions of the behaviors we are seeing now.  None the less its a great summary of what we can expect to be talking about in 2012 so dig in.

Grand Theft Auto has become one of the most valuable game franchises in the world and the next installment is well under way at Rockstar North.  To wet your appetite and provide a little entertainment this Monday check out the first official trailer.  The mindless violence and carnage seems to have been replaced with a slightly more intelligent and thoughtful approach to crime!

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Microsoft Kinect has set the benchmark when it comes to motion capture and gesture recognition and this amazing future gazing video shows what people around the world are starting to imagine.  Very cool!

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Did you blink last week?  If you did then you probably missed something amazing.  Don’t worry though, ADZAG has your back with our 5 most read stories of the week.  So blink with reckless abandon people because ADZAG never does!

1. The New VW Beetle Jumps Off A Billboard In This Cool Augmented Reality Campaign >> Fed up with posters being static and 2 dimensional? Thought so, check out VW’s amazing new augmented reality campaign.
2. Bananas Are Back People, Get Excited! >> Big news down under, probably less so in the rest of the world, but they #hashtagged 4,500 bananas to spread the world! Amazeballs!
3. Adidas vs The Humble Miniskirt >> The Japanese deviants behind this campaign (originally posted in August) finally make it to Holland/Belgium given the huge spike in traffic this post has had.  One from the archives!
4. Facebooks ‘Wall Of Shame’ >> Even Facebook has its secrets.  16 Facebook failures that Zuck didn’t want you to know about but now you do!
5. The Anatomy Of An Agency >> Either the rest of the world is curious or madmen the world over till don’t know what they are meant to be doing each day!  Humorous take on the world of advertising!

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The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the largest bank down under has jumped into the deep-end of the mobile wallet wars with their recently announced mobile application called Kaching…as in ka-ching!  The mobile platform has a number of cool features including the well established NFC technology that was extensively highlighted in Googles recent Google Wallet Vision Video.  In addition to being NFC enabled, Kaching also allows payment between friends via Facebook, email and mobile number.

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The employee benefits for working at a major tech company are legendary.  Free food & candy, gyms onsite, events & parties and paid time to follow your own passions are but a few of the perks you would recieve if you worked at the likes of Google, Facebook or twitter.  To further rub salt into the wounds of those finding gainful employment elsewhere ResumeBear has pulled together this info-graphic.

Some of the perks offered do seem a little rediculous, take for example the handy ‘Leather care’ offered by Facebook onsite?  WTF!  Anyway, find out what you’re missing out on here;

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