Recent Articles from Thomas Frey
The futurist: 100 million jobs at stake
Daryl Oster likes to call it, “space travel on earth.” Even though tube travel like this will beat every other form of transportation in terms of speed, power consumption, pollution, and safety, the big missing element is its infrastructure, a tube network envisioned to combine well over 100,000 m...
More on the lean, mean micro-college model
(Editor’s note: This is the second of two parts. Read Part One.) On a recent “Future of Beer Tour,” an event we produced at the DaVinci Institute that took us on a futuristic bus tour of five local craft breweries, one of our on-board experts mentioned that a local college was planning to offer an […]
The futurist: The lean, mean, micro-college model
With literally millions of people needing to shift careers every year, and the long drawn out cycles of traditional colleges being a poor solution for time-crunched rank-and-file displaced workers, we are seeing a massive new opportunity arising for short-term, pre-apprenticeship training. Many mi...
More snapshots from the future
(Editor’s note: This is the second of two parts. Read Part One.) In looking at generational changes, it’s important to put everything into context – what things have changed and what has stayed the same. I’ve chosen to frame this discussion around middle class teen-agers in the U.S., an influential, trend-setting segment of American society. […]
The futurist: A look at teens — past, present and future
In looking at generational changes, it’s important to put everything into context – what things have changed and what has stayed the same. I’ve chosen to frame this discussion around middle class teenagers in the U.S., an influential, trend-setting segment of American society. Experiences differ g...
More on the future of driverless cars
(Editor’s note: This is the second of two parts. Read Part One.) Let’s continue our journey into our driverless future and see what really makes sense. As a way of researching this topic, I posed the question to fellow futurists and got some insightful perspectives on what effect a competition like this would have both […]
The futurist: Can a driverless car win the Indy 500?
To my way of thinking, the next logical competition should be to pit a self-driving computer against the world’s best race car drivers. It may not be the actual Indianapolis 500, but rather a staged competition, maybe Google or Tesla versus some top Nascar car drivers. Is this a contest that will...
More on the Museum of Future Inventions
(Editor’s note: This is the second of two parts. Read Part 1.) Adding a unique twist to normal exhibits will be the Eight Grand Challenges, a competition that outlines what it will take to become one of the greatest inventors of all times. These challenges have been framed around incredibly difficult feats. At stake will […]
Game of drones: Swarmbots instead of tractors
When Guttenberg first converted a wine press into his first crude printing press, it never crossed his mind that each of the letters he was carefully carving from wood would some day be generated with far more accuracy through super tiny dots, known as pixels. When Michelangelo spent four years meticulously carving his famous statue […]
The futurist: Agriculture’s game of drones
Many in this new industry are chomping at the bit to get started. According to the Association for Unmanned Vehicles International, once drones get okayed for the national air space, the first three years will produce $13.6 billion in economic activity, and 34,000 new manufacturing jobs will get c...
More on the great freelancer movement
(Editor’s note: This is the second of two parts. Read Part 1.) Millennials are in the driver’s seat. It may not feel like it to them, but they come with far more flexibility, a less encumbered lifestyle and a resilience that makes them perfect for doing project work. Their willingness to “do what it takes,” […]
The futurist: The great freelancer movement
As most Millennials have come to realize, finding a job is an entrepreneurial activity. You’re selling your skills to the highest bidder, or most often, just anyone willing to pay for them. If you can’t find a full-time job, a part-time one will do for now. Even project work will be fine.