Will Facebook go the way of the Beanie Babies?

                                                          Will you still be my friend?

A web research outfit, Globalwebindex, has published its "Wave 5 Trends" study.  It suggests that Facebook my be going out of style.  Oh my.

"Despite massive global user growth, active participation on Facebook is falling and we are increasingly seeing a slow down in existing Facebook users. This is particularly true in the U.S. and in other English speaking countries where Facebook has been prevalent for longer and has shifted growth to emerging countries."

Speaking of popularity, much of the report uses the increasingly popular language of "brands" and people's relationship to "brands" as a way to gauge the pulse of the planet.

"Online consumers want brands to provide services that fit with their lifestyle. Most importantly they want brands to listen and their comments wherever they are posted ....More and more consumers are expecting brands to improve their knowledge in specific areas and connect them with other similar-minded brand users." 

This rapidly spreading blight upon the language now infects descriptions of our economy, social life and politics.  In the White House, for example, there are now grave concerns that the once robust brand "Obama" is withering as voters/consumers look for more exciting and satisfying "brands." The worry is not not that his leadership is flagging, but that his "brand" is sagging.

Evidently, among the world's most urgent problems right now is this:   

                                                     Are my brands listening to me?
  
         

Small robot drone for monitoring political demonstrations

At a robotics industry trade show in Washington, D.C. recently one of the corporate vendors, AEE Technology based in Shenzhen, China, unveiled its small drone aircraft, the F50, advertised to be  especially good "as a tool for monitoring protests."

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the device is "about the size of a pizza pan" and shows "the burgeoning international competition in the market for unmanned aerial vehicles and military robots." 

Although a drone for watching people who gather in public to express their views  may seem ominous defenders of free speech, the drift of opinion at the show had a more upbeat, market oriented slant.  Thus, P.W. Singer, author of the book Wired for War, observed, "The market for military robotics has gone global, and China is looking to be a major producer and exporter in that market, just like the U.S."

To my way of thinking, Singer's statement  is a good example of how an academic can become a flack for the arms industry.  Indeed, at a conference I attended this summer, Singer enthusiastically regaled an audience of philosophers with news of  the burgeoning field of "killer apps" in the robotic arms race, and then asked the crowd to ponder "the ethical implications" of these things.  How uplifting.

The road to slaughter and, now, police surveillance is paved by very clever, well paid intellectuals with seemingly noble intentions.  From the WSJ  story: "Michael O'Hanlon, a defense expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said China's interest in developing unmanned aircraft as a tool for policing crowds or responding to emergencies was 'totally understandable, and legitimate.'"

  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  

From now on a new dimension -- one might even call it an "innovation" -- will be added to attempts to exercise the right of free speech and assembly worldwide -- fear of drone aircraft hovering overhead. 

As Tablets Wane, Companies Look to Brain Implants

 

Report: As PCs Wane, Companies Look to Tablets

"Computer makers are expected to ship only about 4 percent more PCs this year than last year, according to IDC, a research firm. Tablets, in contrast, are flying off store shelves. Global sales are expected to more than double this year to 24.1 million, according to Forrester Research. More than two-thirds of those tablets, however, are sold by Apple."

Save your money.  In the world of "innovation" and global commerce, this will soon be old news.