Portfolio Life .net

Too Much Infotechnology Can Lead to Brain Overload:

“Conventional wisdom says the internet will continue to become more central in our lives, bringing with it productivity gains. And for more than 15 years, internet innovations have revolutionized marketing.

Culturally, however, there are some signs of a backlash against technology — even among the most addicted. This trend is worth watching because it could slow down or even derail the digital-marketing train.

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(Via The Steve Rubel Lifestream.)

Steve goes on to say, “Over the last decade, Americans have become hopelessly addicted to information and busyness.”

He’s right. Busyness is not the same as Business. Is it?

There is effort and there is rewarded effort.
(& not all rewards are in money either)

One of the curious things is how the science, the math, behind products gets buried in the brochure. Good idea? Apparently.

Company’s platform: Support for tired feet:

“Desert and beach dwellers love their flip-flops, but flip-flops don’t always love folks with sore feet.”…

In the late 1990s, an orthotics manufacturer Fox knew in California asked him to market its new product.

The company had taken a database of thousands of foot measurements and distilled it to 73 sizes and three levels of rigidity to match most people’s feet. What had been expensive, custom-made products became a “footbed” that sold for around $50….

(Via azcentral.com | business.)

Still cool to learn the concept.

Negroponte Keynote: Electronics Are ‘Obese’:

“Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder of both the MIT Media Lab and the non-profit One Laptop Per Child, delivered the last keynote speech of the American Academy for the Advancement of Sciences annual meeting tonight.

The talk focused on the groundbreaking work of the OLPC, which has managed to deliver thousands of $187 laptops to children in the developing world. Negroponte ran through a list of the organization’s accomplishments, noting that they had half a million machines in their pipeline and that production had reached 110,000 units per month. The big key to large-scale adoption remains price going forward,… “

(Via Wired News.)

He promises a price of $50 in 2011. I’m thinking evolved iPod Touch devices in 2011.

Some time ago, I dropped my land line, the cell phone was always with me. And as reliable as the analog landline. More folks are doing the same.

Cellphone firms end analog-network service:

“As of today, cellphone companies are no longer required to provide service using the analog network. The change is not likely to affect many cellphone users, who long ago switched to digital service even if they didn’t know it.”

(Via azcentral.com | business.)

One key thing if you go away from landlines, be sure the cellphone’s GPS is setup to work with 911 calls, so they know where you are (ok two things, the phone has GPS and it works with 911). The landline had a known location. The cellphone could be anywhere and 911 would need to know where “where” is.

Kevin Gunn posts: US National Debt: How Big? How Bad?:

“I mentioned the immense size of the US Publicly Held National Debt in my last post. In this one, I look at how big and bad the situation really is by looking at it in terms of family finances.

First, let’s get the numbers: the US Treasury Debt to the Penny page is a good choice.

The numbers there at the time I’m writing this are:

Debt held by the public: $5,148,614,528,726.80
Intragovernmental holdings: $4,093,512,047,766.70
Total public debt outstanding: $9,242,126,576,493.50….

Now, on to the family finance analogy. Let’s look at the financial status of our dear old uncle. Let’s call him ‘Sam’….

OK, pretend Uncle Sam is the head of a family with a household income of $75,000 per year. Scaling all those numbers down to family-sized numbers, Uncle Sam:”…

(Via HealthyWealthyHappyWise.)

Just the written out debt numbers are troubling but Kevin shows it in family bite sizes. Then you worry. Check his post out.
Then we find This Is Not Our Bubble

Weekly Wrapup, 4-8 Feb 2008: “This Is Not Our Bubble

Back in early October Bernard Lunn posted about coming economic storms and what entrepreneurs could do to prepare. Given recent news, it is now almost certain that we are in recession. The bad news from financial institutions and credit markets is like a steady drumbeat, so it would be easy to write about ‘battening down the hatches’ or even jumping for the lifeboats.

Far from it, wrote Bernard. These are great times for entrepreneurs. Really. This is not our bubble. We had our bubble and it burst in March 2000.

SEE MORE WEB TRENDS COVERAGE IN OUR TRENDS CATEGORY”

(Via Read/WriteWeb.)

Sounds overly optimistic but there is some truth in there. Entrepreneurs should look at the international opportunities this downturn offers them - in a word, exports are in.

Seemingly unrelated (but not): Weekly Wrapup, 4-8 Feb 2008: “Web 3.0: Is It About Personalization?

On the UK’s Guardian newspaper site today, writer Jemina Kiss suggested that Web 3.0 will be about recommendation. ‘If web 2.0 could be summarized as interaction, web 3.0 must be about recommendation and personalization,’ she wrote. Using Last.fm and Facebook’s Beacon as an example, Kiss painted a picture of a web where personalized recommendation services can feed us information on new music, new products, and where to eat. It’s a marketers dream and it’s really not far off from the definitions we’ve come up with in the past here on ReadWriteWeb.”…

ReadWriteWeb contributor Sramana Mitra… “In Web 3.0, I predict, we are going to start seeing roll-ups. We will see a trunk that emerges from the Context, be it film (Netflix), music (iTunes), cooking / food, working women, single parents, … and assembles the Web 3.0 formula that addresses the whole set of needs of a consumer in that Context.” Or in other words, web 3.0 will be about feeding you the information that you want, when you want it (in the proper context)….

(Via Read/WriteWeb.)

So, now, build your electronic world to help you survive in the real world.