Mankind’s Final Invention….The Death of Conversation….Why Your Next New Thing Will Fail….What To Read in 2014….Econ Recon: Plow Horse Trotting

“You grow up on the day you have the first real laugh at yourself.”

Ethel Barrymore
Legendary American Actress
1879-1959

Mankind’s Final Invention

Information technology has probably touched more lives than nearly any technology that has preceded it with the possible exception of fire and the wheel. Artificial Intelligence (machines that think and/or are conscious) have long been promised as the final game change and may be here sooner than we think. The debate seems to have moved from arguing if AI is possible to when it will arrive….and what it will mean. Many envision a world of leisure and prosperity that these machines would make possible. A few, however, are less sanguine about a world of thinking machines. A brief article outlines some new insights regarding the downside of this phenomenon and summarizes a new book on the threat. It’s coming. Be ready.

The Death Of Conversation

While we’re on the topic of IT, an unintended consequence of universal access is the impact it’s had on personal interaction. Is your digital device killing your capacity to interact both personally and professionally? Can we save the art of conversation in the age of the smart phone?

Why Your Next New Thing Will Fail

New ventures have a very high mortality rate. Forbes columnist and venture capitalist Zack Miller drives home the dangers of new ventures in the form of a satirical response to an equity seeker as written by a venture capitalist. While the context of the article is a startup, the lessons of the article could just as easily apply to a new plant, a new product line or a new service in an existing business. Miller’s sixteen reasons for the failure of the new and unproven deserve a wide reading.

What to Read in 2014

What should you read in 2014? Why not the books your peers found compelling in 2013? Here’s a quick gallery of the 17 books that executives found worthwhile over the past year.

Econ Recon: Plow Horse Trotting

Economist Brian Wesbury has been describing the pace of the economy for the past several years as that of a plodding plow horse. However, recent economic data has him thinking that the “plow horse” may soon be trotting. Learn why he advises us to “Stay invested and stay bullish” in 2014.”