What we read this week (2 November)

This week, we explored the edge of reality, learned more about productivity, open source’s contribution to the European economy, been delighted by the ingenuity of kids in Ethiopia and understood Google a little bit better.

Quote of the week

The real future—or what may one day be a common element of some real future—slips past us, mistaken for the present, or for the past

–William Gibson

Articles of the week

  • Warren Ellis: The Edge of Reality
    One of those rare occasions when we recommend a video instead of a text to read. But this keynote by Warren Ellis – who also was a keynote speaker at our CoCities conference – speaks about atemporality, our inability to see the present (let’s not even start about the future). It’s 14 minutes of your life you will certainly not regret spending on YouTube.
  • Louisa Heinrich: The myth of productivity
    Our friend Louisa looks at whether checking social websites at work could really have a negative impact on overall productivity, what hangups we have about mixing these two worlds, and to what extent our hangups are justified.
  • Joinup: Contribution of open source to Europe’s economy
    Next time you are asking yourself whether or not open source is good for business, here is a statistic for you: Open Source’s contribution to Europe’s economy? 450 billion per year.
  • Ethiopian Kids Hack Their OLPC Tablets in 5 Months, With No Help
    What happens, if you give kids who never saw a computer a box full of computers? They hack it. Interesting implication for the discussion whether or not it’s important that our technology remains hackable.
  • Google Now: behind the predictive future of search
    What seemed for a long while like a not existing strategy, emerges now, combined and realigned as a progressive and visionary approach to search.

Author: Igor

Igor likes to connect the dots. As a strategic consultant in an increasingly complex world, he favours broad knowledge over specialisation. In the last five years, he helped shape strategic decisions at large corporations like Deutsche Postbank AG and Deutsche Telekom AG as well as at startups like Amen and refund.me. In his work he is focusing always on finding the appropriate solutions as well as the people who will be executing upon his advice. Beside the consulting work, Igor speaks at international conferences on variety of topics (SXSW, PICNIC, re:publica, etc.).