Rumors are… there’s some new Airpods coming very soon!
I know – some folk will be thinking – why the excitement? What’s new about them? What else could you do with them?
Well.. for starters, we know that Apple are serious about fitness.
We’ve seen this in the iWatch. We’ve seen this in all the latest Apple gadgets. And we’ll see it in the new Airpods! That’s right – they’ll have a wellness sensor which adds to the whole Apple Fitness Ecosystem.
There’s also wireless charging, Siri functionality and a few other tweaks – mainly to the speakers to make the sound, sound better.
We are becoming more ‘wireless’. We are becoming more ‘fitness’ and health aware. With new devices, they encourage us to focus on the right things in life. Our health.
In the future – we’ll see more and more devices monitoring our health – and I don’t just mean our steps, which yes – are important but there’s more to us.
There’s reports of glucose levels… which would be awesome for diabetic folk. There’s reports of other readings that could be taken that could help folk with other conditions that need monitoring.
And how much will they be? – indeed… they won’t be cheap!
Well Bal – I’m not going to tell you… but I feel 21!
It’s not fair me asking how old you are. But great to hear you feel 21!
The folk that read this blog – are a great age range! No, honestly, there’s some young folk… and there’s some old folk. And some of the old folk struggle with modern day technology… we’ve seen the video’s, we’ve seen with our own eyes probably…
And let’s be honest – technology has advanced so much in recent years, it can be difficult to keep up on occasions.
But ever thought, how a 17 year old would react to an old device?
It’s funnier than you think! – that’s right… watch this video where two youngster are asked to use an old phone and dial a number… (Finally a chance for the senior folk to laugh at the youngster’s!)
It happens every year. I reported on it last year. And I’ll share some of my highlights from this year.
Yep – it’s CES 2019!!!! – the biggest, baddest and (one of the) best Electronics show in the world.
Happens in January of every year and all the top electronic companies around the world come to Vegas to show off what they’ve been doing, what’s coming in the pipeline and what’s going to be the future!!
Ok.. let’s get started… for me, first up…. TV.
Well, when I say TV… I mean screens. Screen technology.
Panasonic turned up with a very good, 4K screen (in various sizes – going up to 65”). Then we had Sony… showing off their 8k screen. Samsung with their inter-connecting screens (basically, tiles you connect and it forms a large screen). But for me, it was LG. The rolling screen!
That’s right! – it’s a sound box, screen… everything in one! The screen roles out of the box! How brilliant is that.
I saw the rolling screen at LG a few years back, in their Innovation Lab. It’s great to see what they’ve done to it and how they’ve applied it.
Ok… up next…. Food related!
That’s right folks… 2019 is the year of ‘Bal’s Kitchen’. And what better way to ensure I’m sure the latest technology in my kitchen!
So we have… Pepper! – A connected food scale!!
It can be connected to Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant which claims to detect the nutritional value of every ingredient… how awesome is that?!
Now, this is very new… and they’ll be starting their crowdfunding campaign on kickstarter very soon….
Now there were lots of robotics… Samsung had an air purifier robot, there was a mouse robot for cats to play with, and much more.
Being an ‘electronics’ show… and we now have ‘electric’ cars… we have a number of manufactures showing of their latest offerings.
Ford, GM, Kia, Tesla and many more were there, showing off their latest and greatest vehicles. There was also Harley Davidson showing off their electric bikes…
The final item… for this blog post… and to share with you, that was on display at CES was from Lamborghini.
That’s right. The Italian car maker turned up, with a few cars.. but also this,
That’s right folks, it’s a chair. Not any old chair… one that will totally transform you as a person. Totally relax you… and let’s be honest, you wouldn’t expect anything less from these crazy Italians!
So I leave you with some highlights. Technology is great, isn’t it…. transforming how you watch your favorite shows, how you cook in the kitchen and how you sit down… or rather, what you sit down on.
Let’s be honest Bal, this isn’t really new is it? I’ve heard it before – and probably seen it on social media.
Yes, you’re right. We’ve seen robots being trialled in restaurants where they’re delivering food.
And following on from my post earlier this week – about having a lean process – and the missing piece is the robots delivering the food…. well, you would need some human intervention to ensure the customers are okay… and if there’s any problems or complaints, there’s a human on hand to deal with the situation.
Well, let’s be honest… depending on type of restaurant – you might want to talk to people! You might want to go out to a restaurant purely because of the people that work there and those that serve you! It all depends on the type of restaurant – if you want it quick, then you may not want the whole human interaction.
But this blog post isn’t about having an end to end process with no human intervention.
This blog post is about a story I came across – where it’s using folk who have limited use of their body, to command and instruct robots!
Dawn, is a cafe in Tokyo, Japan. The robots are developed by Ory, a startup that specializes in robotics for disabled people, the OriHime-D is a 120 cm (4-foot) tall robot that can be operated remotely from a paralyzed person’s home.
Even if the operator only has control of their eyes, they can command OriHime-D to move, look around, speak with people, and handle objects.
A true and inspirational marriage of technology and humanity!
Yes – it’s all about technology.
Yes – it’s all about a lean process.
However… when you inject some humanity, it all becomes emotional – and more importantly… helps to involve those, who would otherwise, would not be involved.
Don’t forget… It’s all about Process, Purpose….. and, People!
Here’s a video showing how it works… (apologies, it’s in Japanese – but just by watching it… you’ll understand!)
From a customer perspective – we want a quick and easy process. We don’t want to waste time…
From a business owner perspective – where ever we can reduce cost, and save time – it’s only a good thing!
Unfortunately, I feel we don’t do enough of this Lean Thinking.
What does that mean, Bal?
Well – look at a process, understand the steps – and have a look how we can reduce the time from the moment the customer orders to the moment we’re paid.
Take the restaurant industry…
When the opportunity came to introduce digital payments – for example, pay by card – they were able to ‘save time’ by not having to spend time to count the money at the end of the day – ensure the books balanced, etc…
It was easy for the customer. Not having to carry cash. Just tap the machine or put in your 4 digit pin and done.
There’s now – as I’ve shared previously (available at Weatherspoons and many other restaurants), where you can order and pay via the app, whilst sitting at the table! That’s right – taking the whole process and making it even more ‘leaner’ using ‘digital’.
So now you don’t need people to take payments. You don’t need people to take orders. You just need people to bring out the food – and soon, you could have a few robots do that!
I appreciate, there’s some restaurants where the whole experience is based on the people working there… but then there’s times, where you just want to go in… order…. eat…. pay….. and go!
All industries should be doing this. Not ordering at tables…. but looking at the process… and looking at what digital tools are available to make it more efficient! – saving money and time!
And that’s the whole point of this blog of mine… to share experiences and highlight where this could be done.
It could be in the airline industry. It could be in the motor industry. There’s so many industries that can leverage the whole ‘digital enablement’. Have you looked at the processes that surround you recently?… not sure where or how to start?
Well, Firstly, Happy New Year! – Hope you had a fabulous break over the festive period and were able to do what you wanted to do! – I wanted to relax, spend time with family and eat lots. I did all three – so I’m happy!
Also – I’m hoping you were able to listen to my first podcast, which was titled as… My First Podcast. It’s available on all major platforms – you could open up your podcast app if you have an iOS device, search for Think Lean Get Digital – and my podcast will appear! You can do the same for Google, Spoitfy and many many more.
And on my second podcast coming next week – titled (for the moment) My Second Podcast, I’ll be talking a little more about skills and jobs. How they’re changing – but more so how you don’t have to go down the traditional route – which is usually, school – college – University – Job – work – retire.
And this leads to me how behaviors are changing. Shopping behaviors – but also, our general behaviors for example, how we listen to music.
That’s right – you may have seen or heard, HMV (His Masters Voice)…. is closing.
Why?… well, simple really. When was the last time you bought a CD? When was the last time you went on the high street to buy a DVD?
These habits are changing.
We stream our music. We have so many platforms to do it on. Even YouTube now have a music/stream app – where you can listen to music.
It effectively means – we don’t need to own music. We don’t need to have the space for it. We don’t need to own a physical copy.
Indeed – there’ll be some DJ’s, musicians, etc… experts in the field that will own, that will want the physical copy… and that is absolutely fine – as that is their ‘bread and butter’. But they’ll soon shift to the on-line streaming behaviors of the consumers. Similar to how photographers moved from 35mm film to Digital.
I’ll continue to share updates of the high street – and how digital, how technology and how thinking lean – is changing our environment. I’m sure we’ll have more and more well known names from the High Street disappear over 2019….
That’s right folks – after talking about it (no pun intended) I have only gone and recorded myself talking and therefore created my first podcast!
It’s mainly about Robots, Workplace – how the skills we need will change for future needs and I interview Nico Orie – asking him about robots, millennials and the next Kodak.
I will get better at these – I’ll try to find some better intro music, and work on those sound levels!
And please… I appreciate feedback, so if there’s particular topics you’d like me to talk about, interview certain people… please let me know in the comments box below this blog.
Indeed. What a year. 2018. What a fabulous year. Achieved a lot. Travelled even more. Met some wonderful people. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
Back in February, I started with my ‘Thursday Throwbacks’… with the first one being of me outside Kodak (my first ‘proper’ job)
Yep – I continued those throughout the year – every month… every first Thursday of the month, I would share a Thursday Throwback.
I also kept up with my Friday Thoughts! – these have somewhat become a little popular, with folks talking about them and asking me about them.
My personal favourite, was this one…
Isn’t it true!
Then.. in May, I had the opportunity to speak at the Nottingham Trent University with some very important people.
Here’s me hold a nerf gun, with the inventor of the Nerf Gun, the Sheriff of Nottingham and her guards! – at the top of Nottingham Castle!
I have always appreciated the love given to me –
And then came the Summer of 2018… and wow, what a summer. The football, the hot weather… but for me, it was reading a particular book – that has changed my way of thinking and is now, one of my favourite books of all time.
Thank you to everyone who’s supported me throughout 2018.
As I shared at the start – it’s been fabulous.
What does 2019 have in store Bal?
Well…. you’ll be excited to know, my first podcast went live only recently. So I will be recording more of them…. then there’s my YouTube channel, which I’ve set up and will be sharing more on there.
I’ll off course continue with this blog… and for those asking, about my Friday Thoughts… they’ll be available to buy on Canvas Prints early 2019! – Perfect for you home, study, office…. to keep you inspired and to keep you going!
