by Erik Kain on January 3, 2012
The closer human replicas get to the human face the greater the sense of revulsion we feel toward the replica. Or so the theory of the Uncanny Valley, first proposed by Japanese roboticist Masihiro Mori, goes. Masihiro Mori’s original theory proposed that the closer robots got to human beings, the greater our sense of revulsion [...]
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by Erik Kain on January 2, 2012
Can technology overcome and change institutions otherwise overcome by inertia and stagnation? Will technology help overcome tyrants and change the relationship between state and citizen in positive and hopeful ways, or will it enable dictators and make governments even more oppressive? These were some of the questions posed at Techonomy this past November. These aren’t merely [...]
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Earlier this week I wrote about Amazon’s Price Check app which allows customers to scan barcodes of any item sold at Amazon and get an instant price comparison at any store. This allows customers to get on-the-go price comparisons and helps Amazon get pricing data from competitors all across the country. Much of the bad [...]
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by Erik Kain on November 17, 2011
Whatever the merits of the gold standard, I don’t see it happening in the next five years. Where is the political will? Ron Paul remains steady in the polls, even surging a bit lately, but still a long ways from the White House. And unless I’m mistaken, Paul is the only serious contender for the [...]
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by Erik Kain on November 16, 2011
One of the best moments at Techonomy this year was the debate between George Mason economist, Cowen, and MIT economist Erik Brynjolfsson. The two men could hardly be more different in demeanor. Cowen is reserved, awkward, his words crisply pressed; Brynjolfsson is expansive and punchy, quick to laugh. Cowen argued the line from his latest book, The Great [...]
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I’ve been taking a critical stance toward the enthusiasm exhibited at , but I want to take a moment to point out that for all my skepticism, we really do need risk-takers and entrepreneurs if we want to overcome the obstacles of the future. Resource depletion, global hunger, oppressive regimes, mediocre education outcomes, and skyrocketing [...]
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by Erik Kain on November 16, 2011
and met with founder to talk about the future and one thing that leaped out at me from their discussion was Parker’s contention that the industry most likely to be transformed next is politics. I know that I keep beating this unrealistic-optimism drum, but this one takes the cake. I thought Parker’s comments were largely [...]
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If most of the Techonomy experience can be defined by its optimism and exuberance over the role of technology and social media in the future, Monday afternoon’s security round-table was its antithesis. Forbes editor Bruce Upbin moderated a panel including Bret Hartman of RSA, Mohd Noor Amin of IMPACT and Jody Westby of Global Cyber [...]
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Because no tech conference is complete without a performance from a music legend, Lyle Lovett performed last night at Techonomy here at the Ritz-Carlton in Tucson. The video above is an interview between Lovett and Elevation Partners’ Roger McNamee. It touches on some of the questions surrounding the way technology has revolutionized the music industry. While [...]
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by Erik Kain on November 14, 2011
DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg had some exciting news for the desktop computer at Techonomy Monday. According to the head of the animation company, new collaboration with chip-maker Intel is leading to rendering that is 50 to 70 times faster than anything being used today. This has far-reaching implications that go well beyond the world of [...]
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E.D. Kain is a blogger and freelance writer. Currently he serves as Editor-in-Chief of The League of Ordinary Gentlemen and writes a policy blog at Forbes. He can be found occasionally composing 140 character cultural analysis on Twitter. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The National Review, The Washington Examiner, and the now-defunct True/Slant.
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