Homer Hickam is an American author, Vietnam veteran, and a former NASA engineer. His autobiographical novel Rocket Boys: A Memoir, was a #1 New York Times Best Seller, is studied in many American and international school systems, and was the basis for the film October Sky. His most recent book, published in April 2013 is Crescent, a Young Adult Science Fiction thriller set on the moon.
Historically, technology innovation and economic growth have been driven by BIG innovations, e.g., the Internet, smartphones, and tablet computers. Yet, most technology announcements we’ve heard lately seem incremental. Is there a “next big thing”?
Technology analyst and author Bill Meisel thinks so. He says that technology such as speech recognition and natural language understanding that allow a tighter human-computer connection, one that can help unify the increasing number and complexity of digital devices we deal with every day. By addressing this problem of “digital overload,” companies can create a closer and cost-effective connection with customers. The overall impact to individual companies and to the overall economy can the tightening human-computer connection “the next big thing,” he claims. See if you agree!
Bill Meisel is an industry analyst, publishing a newsletter on applications of speech and natural language technology and holding an annual Mobile Voice Conference. Bill recently published a book for the general reader, The Software Society. Bill began his career as a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at USC and published technical books. He also managed the Computer Science Division of a defense company and founded and ran a speech recognition company. He is also Executive Director of the Applied Voice Input Output Society, a non-profit industry organization. He also makes The Software Society a “living book” with a blog at http://www.thesoftwaresociety.com.
Since Hurricane Katrina, people have known that the big organizations just aren’t that great at responding to natural disasters quickly. There has been a gap between when the disaster strikes and when help gets to the victims. It’s not all their fault, the bigger an organization gets, the more levels of bureaucracy have to be navigated for any true action to happen. Social Media is beginning to and will continue to change all that. From case management and damage assessment to locating victims to fundraising, social media has been one of the only thing able to fill the gap.
The one thing that hasn’t changed is that preparedness is still the key to an effective disaster response and communities that plan to integrate social media into their response will have a vast advantage. Join us as Abbey Dieteman alerts us on how social media is changing emergency response.
Abbey Dieteman is the co-founder of Dieteman Technology Consulting in Upstate NY where she helps small businesses integrate technology. She is also a Certified Disaster Early Responder and has responded in the wakes of Hurricanes Katrina, Irene, Lee, and Sandy.
As cable fees continue to rise, some subscribers looking for a pair of metaphorical scissors so they can cut the cord. More than 90 percent of American households pay for TV, according to Nielsen. But by the end of the year, an estimated 4.7 million American households that previously paid for TV will have cut the cord, or about 4.7 percent of all subscribers, up from about 3.74 million in 2012.
While estimates vary, it appears at least 5–6 percent of U.S. households relying exclusively on a mix of free antenna-delivered broadcast TV and online sources for their video entertainment.
Robert Cole is a former hippie, psychologist and total tech geek, but, most importantly, is the founder and President of World Wide Stereo. Bob is frequently called upon for his expertise as a lecturer and author, and has been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX and numerous publications including Rolling Stone, and Esquire. He has been recognized as one of the “25 most influential people in CE”, and was most recently named to the Consumer Electronics’ Hall of Fame by Dealerscope Magazine. Bob served for eight years as President of Home Entertainment Source, the industry’s largest buying group and is currently a member of the PRO Group.
IMI TechTalk 