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Recent Articles from Thomas Frey
The futurist: Peak car is coming
Vehicle traffic grew at a staggering rate worldwide for decades. But that all changed in 2007. Some refer to it as the perfect storm with the combination of economic collapse, digital revolution and major shifts in urban lifestyles.
The futurist: The mannequin-fashion model showdown
For many, the idea of having fashion models, that many of us regard as the ultimate form of personal beauty, lose in a one-on-one battle with synthetic humans is a rather depressing thought.
The futurist: Secret engines of off-grid living
From my perspective, there are three primary inputs and two primary outputs for off-grid living. The inputs are energy, water and media (Internet), and the outputs are sewage and trash. Three recent innovations are causing a shift in design thinking, making it far easier for people to become part...
The futurist: Creating human-free distribution networks
A couple weeks ago, I was asked to speak at the 8th annual Turkish Postal Symposium in Antalya, Turkey on the future of the postal industry. This was a fascinating gathering of thought leaders to discuss next generation postal service.
More about the dream house of the future
As smart home devices become smarter, they will begin to shift from simply responding to a condition, to anticipating what’s next.
The futurist: Dream house of the future
For the past several months, I’ve become enamored with the idea of creating a self-sufficient, connectionless home. Not only is the home off-grid, creating it’s own power, heat, and air-conditioning, but also it’s own water supply, compost, and sewage system in a smart home environment.
The massive drone-delivery opportunity
Flying delivery drones will soon become a huge booming industry, but an even bigger opportunity is looming for ground-based delivery drones and all of the systems that will make driverless pizza delivery as common as using ATM machines today.
More on solving a billion-person problem
I often think about the billion moment-sucking black holes that have been incorporated into our global system architecture. Every time I delete spam from my inbox, I feel a tiny piece of my life flitter away. Sitting needlessly at stoplights, or watching the minutes tick away as I wait in some lin...
The futurist: How to solve a billion-person problem
My friend, Peter Diamandis, likes to say, “The best way to become a billionaire is to solve a billion-person problem.” When I first heard this phrase, I had difficulty imagining what a billion-person problem looked like.
The futurist: When things sell themselves
What if the things you were thinking about buying already knew you were considering a purchase?
Eighteen microcredit scenarios
(Editor’s note: This is the second of two parts. Read Part One.) Here are a number of MicroCredit scenarios designed to expand your thinking and help you grasp the significance […]
The futurist: The coming era of alt credentials
According to Edevate President Gordon Rogers, “Our goal is to reinvent credentialing. This is similar to the introduction of iTunes, which offered consumers the option to purchase a single track instead of the entire album.” Expanding the notion of credentialing, Edevate plans to offer Microdegree...
