Month: September 2011
In the beginning, Apple wooed the “misfits” into Macintosh by offering a culture that went against the very mainstream nature of the PC. Today, Amazon does exactly the same thing, streamlining the tablet by giving people an answer to the very mainstream nature of its competitors.
I strongly feel that in more ways than one, humanity had been trained for over three decades in the art of the sandbox — designing their own little worlds in the confines of video games and editing tools on the computer. Call it divine preparation. Call it some sort of premonition of things to come. Even call it an accident. Whatever it may be, it is apparent that man will always long to expand the realm of his imagination into something more and more tangible.
So take for instance video games such as Little Big Planet, Minecraft, The Sims and The Incredible Machine that all allow you to create your own little worlds. From the virtual dollhouses of The Sims to the virtual cities of SIM City. From the text-based storytelling of Sierra to scripted cinematics found in the Half-Life series. This is man punching a hole through the roof to see the cosmos of progress.
I predict in the next 5-10 years that there will be a big shift in the consumer paradigm. Customer is king these days, but I’m talking about something totally different. I’m talking about the stuff only science fiction can bring to your doorstep, such as the replicators from Star Trek.
In the near future, every home will have a large format 3D printer. It will print tools. It will print furniture. It will even print your car. Every home will need to stock on a supply of raw material, resin perhaps for most but there will be a number of compounds (in powdered form) which homes can utilize for the creation of their little sandbox reality.
This eco-friendly car was printed using a 3D printer. At least most of it.
“Goodbye hardware store. I can print all my tools.”
In the same way that the Internet and social media gave rise to new jobs we’ve never heard of before, the large format 3D printing industry will give rise to new jobs in the creative sphere. Where before, creativity was mostly limited to the expression of art, this creativity found in the depths of Minecraft level designers and gaming engine moders can be directly applied to the real world. In printed form.
I see an economic shift as hardware stores may actually become a thing of the past and we will in some way go back to medieval times and have our wrench made from “Steve” three blocks away because he developed a really amazing schematic which he shares online. And he gets a cut whenever the schematic is downloaded.
They are our modern day blacksmiths, working not with their hands but with the machinations that occur in their minds. And the world will once again give rise to craftsmen and artisans.
Photo: Taking Marlon Rivera “off the hook” in post-event cocktails
I do my best to try something new every year, even if it’s just a one-off or a thing that eventually turns into a hobby. Well, I’d say this year I found myself in another comfortable position wearing the hat of an events host. The past two weeks had me hosting two gigs for Samsung. They were both selling events for their Samsung Smart TV line done at the Tower Club in Manila and at the Maya Bar in Cebu City. Manila had me in tandem with (the multitalented) Marlon Rivera, designer and director for Ang Babae sa Septic Tank. Marlon helped me demonstrate the Skype calling features present in their 55″ and 60″ models (the 40″ model also has it).
Cebu had me paired up with the charming Lani Osmena and we went through the main features including Search, Apps, and Social TV (access to Facebook and Twitter while watching your shows), and yes, Skype. It was great taking a non-geek approach to technology, something that I’ve always tried to be consistent in with my writing on this blog. I guess the biggest complement I’ve ever received is that the way I speak and the way I write seem to be fairly consistent and I do seem to project similar auras whether I’m writing or speaking. And I think that’s a good thing. Thanks!
I went about both events wearing two hats on “stage” — that of the host and the “demo guy” going through all the pertinent features for 15 minutes, answering questions and chit-chatting with people who had questions in between. It was these in-betweens that were more fun as I got to dialogue with Marlon and Chef Chris of Panizza fame (he provided the food for the night at the Tower Club) in Manila and Lani and some new friends in Cebu.
I’m really happy to have taken the stage for Samsung and even more satisfied that they were able to sell more than a dozen of these next generation TV’s. More than 3 million pesos worth of sales in two nights — congratulations Samsung! =)
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The 60″ Samsung TV retails for PHP 319,000.00. That night, there was an exclusive discount (it rounded off to something like PHP 280,000 cash) + freebies. Get this. If you bought that night, not only do you get the TV, but a second 27″ LED, a Samsung Galaxy Tab WiFi, the BT remote keyboard, 3D glasses, HD webcam, the 3D Blu-ray player and the Samsung Blu-pass card for rentals.
Good day.
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