Predictions for the next 10 years

Back in 1999 I went to a conference at the Field Museum in Chicago called The Next 20 Years (sponsored by ZDNet, I still have the button that says Believe in Technology).

Now that we’re rolling over the odometer to 2010 I can honestly say that none of the predictions about string theory have come true.

It was an interesting idea though, to think about what is possible now and in the future and speculate in ways that may inspire people to do more, make things better and improve life.

I have been thinking a lot about this decade ending in the last few weeks and aside from an obvious comment about how blindingly fast it went by, I’m skipping the recap and these are some thoughts for the next ten to twenty years.

Disclaimer: These are just my ideas as one person, who analyzes things for a living, and I don’t have a lot of data to prove any of it. Take it with a grain of salt or as entertainment only.

1. Photo Recognition will be big. And I am not talking about face recognition software. But with smartphones we mostly have decent cameras at our disposal that are connected to the internet 24/7. I have been thinking I’d like to be able to redeem the coke-points my husband collects by snapping a picture of the cap rather than entering the number on a form online (boring and slow). This is the exact stuff that QR code readers are used for that work for UPS tracking and a whole bunch of other applications. Expect them to be used as the new coupons, contests, offline-online gaming and a whole bunch of other stuff. Then maybe by the time all that is common place facial recognition of images will be working online.

2. You will probably work in an industry that does not exist yet. Continuing education is a must. I say this because my life is an example. I work in Online Marketing and data tracking for ad agencies and this didn’t exist as a job or a technology available to most companies in 1999. I have to make sure I spend time learning on the job and off the job each year because things change a lot. This does not make having a family easy and we have no idea if we will do that as a result, but it means that you have to be curious about new stuff and be willing to investigate it and you may end up the local expert when you’re the only one with that knowledge. And learn a lot of math.

3. Taxes will go up. All this BS about lowering taxes to stimulate business and rich people spending will go away since we can’t fund the programs required, can’t borrow any more as a government and we would still have the lowest taxes for those rich people to pay when compared to other developed economies. Interest rates and inflation may follow, and of course oil prices crunching a lot of people out of the middle class. Someone will finally do the math proving that investment in hiring new people at a company and creating jobs is inversely related to lowering taxes on the rich and everyone else.

4. There will be a whole new batch of media mavens that we listen to and we will like them because they are curators not experts. No one person will be able to create enough content or be syndicated to as many channels, mediums and messages as would be possible in this fragmented media world. The people you will look to for advice are blogging now, looking at thousands of sources of information, knowing how to process it, evaluate what is good-bad-meaningless and just filter down to the good stuff. We need people like this because the big media push to produce new stuff 24/7/365 is too much for one person to go through and we all still have jobs/families/houses to attend to. And not everyone wants to spend every day plugged into a screen reading constantly. We just want those wow, aha moments. Eventually maybe this 1000 cable channels, commercials every 10 minutes, 100 blog posts a day, constant content model will streamline due to lack of popularity of most of it (no ROI) but as there is more digital space available someone will put something on it, with no guarantee of quality because people seem to randomly stumble upon things still and listen/watch/interact with amusement/laziness/procrastination of their day job. 

5. Expect more digital sensors everywhere. And this could mean in our clothing, in our fridges, on the roads, in our homes. There is a lot of bandwidth for transmitting data and ways are improving for processing data and analyzing it (without human intervention, or programming needed). I foresee more real-time data on traffic and alternate routes in my car guided by my voice requests (like Knight Rider’s Kit?). I foresee clothing measuring weight and texting me that I shouldn’t eat any more calories today. I foresee my fridge telling me the milk has gone bad again and there is a cracked egg leaking all over it. We may spend all day responding to automated messages. These may be an upgrade fee kind of thing but I think at some point the regular cost will include it because the data will be so valuable and targetable for marketers. The recent privacy discussions prove that people are becoming more aware of ad tracking as well as digital capabilities and the younger generations don’t want to go back to a time without it. But we do need better security options for this to work or an opt in policy for managing what companies know and how we want to get/share/target this info.

6. We’re going to get a whole lot more competition from China, South America and Africa for jobs. Companies are going there for operations now and not just to supply their own regions with goods and services. All the Bill & Melinda Gates (plus Oprah, Warren Buffet & That Facebook guy too) funding health/education programs in Africa will create a continent of healthy people who have jobs that used to be here related to their natural resources and possibly other areas as well. China will continue to be a leader in growth and the US needs to define itself. I always wonder why there is such an emphasis on making sure all the other countries have the help they need to solve their problems by these foundations and not the ones with people starving/not getting educated or employed in the USA. Also Immigration, population growth and birth rates in the US will all drop by 2020. (based on what I saw from the census in 2010)

7. The market will continue to be tumultuous. Up, down, sideways. It isn’t connected to real people or the economy as we know it anymore. We’re not sure how to gauge it or if it will make any positive growth in 10 years. With higher interest rates in 2012-2013 CDs may be the hot investment again.

That is it for now, but I may have more ideas later. One thing is for sure, let’s get out there and party like it’s 1999.

Most Offensive Wedding Gift Ever – An Apron

With all that has happened in the last 100 years in women’s suffrage and our battle for equality of the sexes,  I am surprised and a bit offended that this company thinks that a 1950′s style apron is the perfect wedding shower gift. Who thinks that? Getting a blender that both you and your husband can use to make smoothies from twice is at least equal. An apron says: Hey you, woman, go make dinner! Grunt grunt…

Haven’t we fought hard against female stereotypes and the opportunity to be self sufficient, smart and hold an equal career and home responsibilities with a man? How can these aprons possibly be appropriate when they plunge us right back at the turn of the last century? A girly apron like this is only worn by a woman, never a man. Why not get a more functional William’s Sonoma Gender Neutral Apron that both he and she can wear depending on who is doing the messier cooking? Why say: Hello, I am not good for anything but cooking or cleaning, don’t ask me to think… with one of these career limiting sexist aprons?

Eww. All I have to say is if I ever get married, don’t get me one of these. Please, I would rather have a blender.

Making New Year’s Resolutions Stick

According to the FiveCentNickel money and finance blog and CNN these are the top consumer money resolutions of the year in 2008:

 1. Pay down debt (33%)
2. Save for retirement (23%)
3. Build an emergency fund (11%)
4. Buy real estate (11%)

I think that last one must be some seriously mis-informed people.

I also think building an emergency fund means that people feel the recessing coming. I know I do. It is looming around every corner in every shopping mall in America.

It may also be a telling statement about debt, that the levels are higher than ever before on average and people have that as their biggest issue and therefore rated #1. I have felt for about 6 months now that the consumer economy is wiped out. The people of the US can’t keep supporting the economy, they are maxed out and mortgaged to the hilt. And we don’t need more stuff, cheap or not. They owe more than they are worth and can’t spend more to finance this country’s economic growth anymore. We have to get big business and industry back operating and manufacturing in this country to support the economy with spending and supply jobs in order to get people and the economy back on track.

The list last year in 2007 looked like this:

1. Saving more (32%)
2. Paying down debt (25%)
3. Making more income (15%)
4. Spending less (13%)
5. Investing more (10%)
6. Saving for a large purchase (4%)
7. Don’t know (1%)

Woah, it’s window washing day here in the high rise,  and we’ve got guys on ropes swinging-about on our windows while washing them from the 31st floor outside. Fwamp! It’s a bit weird when you have meetings going on.

Bedbugs are awful

A few years ago I noticed some red bites on my leg and thought for a while that I had brought bed bugs into my house via a trip and hotel stay I had for work. (this makes you rethink the process of packing and unpacking with the suitcase on your bed) It turns out that there was no evidence of any bed bugs in the house so I was lucky this time. And they don’t usually hang out in the midwest which made it a little less likley. They prefer to live up east for some reason. Now travel is the main reason you get them and pick them up in hotels that don’t clean well. They are also different than dust mites. You can easily see them and the symptoms of bed bugsand you can’t see dust mites at all. Dust mites are microscopic. I do have these, as alomst everyone does, and encasing my mattress in a vinyl cover has stopped some of my allergies. I still need a duvet cover that is miteproof although it will have to be fabric and washed every 2 weeks which is somewhat a pain. Anyway, I just wanted to post the differences between these since they are getting so much press these days and everyone is going through a panic about finding out whether they have them or not.

Holiday Shopping Gift Cards

Apparently consumer spending in the U.S. is down in September and everyone is worried about a down sales year for this christmas and holiday season. Part of the problem is that so many toys have lead ala china production and have been recalled. Another part of the problem is that many people have had their housing mortgage rates adjust and are looking at not affording much or are loosing their homes to forclosure and are in financial disaster. And the last reason is that a lot of people are forecasting a recession due to the job growth slowing sue to the housing boom going bust. Why does every industry have to go through a bubble these days? Anyway, one of the bright spots for retailers is gift cards. They are practical to give, because people can get whatever they want and retailers like them because they get paid up front and a certain percentage of them are lost and they still get to keep that revenue. So here is some info on that forecast for the holiday shopping season from emarketer:

Renegade Craft Fair Chicago December 8-9

I have been really getting into http://www.Etsy.com lately and now I am buying christmas gifts, baby gifts and christmas cards all online there. I may get all my christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving! One of the cool things about crafters is that they are bringing back the idea of the craft fair and they are making it cool again. There is one coming up in Chicago for the holidays that I would like to go to and check out all the cool hand made stuff. Its the renegade craft fair. Here is the info I got on the email update I got today:

Just a reminder that the deadline to apply for this year’s Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale is just one week away! Late applications won’t be considered – so get yours in before November 1! Visit our website to apply -

http://www.renegadecraft.com/holiday/index.html

The fair is scheduled for the weekend of December 8 + 9 from Noon – 8pm at The Pulaski Park Fieldhouse, which is located at 1419 W. Blackhawk in Chicago. Hope to see you there!

Etsy Love

I just wanted to take a moment to state my love for Etsy. I am someone who loves to craft but doesn’t have time for it right now. So I go buy a craft or two for very reasonable prices when normal store type stuff just doesn’t fit the bill.

For example, I got this great real garnet pendant from mcfarland designs for 36 bucks and I love it so much I am going to get them for christmas gifts for some people on my list.

I also got this solar lamp from Etsy but I haven’t gotten it in the mail yet, becasue I just ordered it yesterday.

I like surfing through all the listings, but a lot of the stuff isn’t really my style and keyword searching doesn’t seem to do the trick. (not all sellers may have things tagged correctly) but once in a while you find some really polished professional made goods at very reasonable prices. And I love that.

Plus you find cuter than buttons baby things like these cherry booties , messenger baby bags and sushi baby costume. Stuff that is so creative it’s great. They have everything from artwork, to home goods, to clothing, to jewelry, to kids toys and clothes to eco friendly pet items. So check out Etsy for some really interesting and unique finds this holiday shopping season.

Wake Up WalMart – Chinese food product recall update

I just got this information in an email from Wake Up WalMart and wanted to pass it along because more people should know about what lengths WalMart will go to in order to make more profit. Nothing is sacred, so don’t spend your money there if you want to have any control over our U.S. Economy at all:

Wal-Mart is the #1 importer of Chinese goods. So, after the spree of high-profile recalls and outright bans on dangerous Chinese products, wouldn’t it be logical for Wal-Mart to take the offensive against unsafe imported goods? Shouldn’t Wal-Mart stand up for the safety of American consumers?

Wouldn’t you?

The truth is that Wal-Mart is putting profits over people – again – by blocking laws requiring disclosure of where food comes from. Instead of looking out for consumer safety, Wal-Mart is watching its own bottom line.

That’s why we put together a new ad to expose the truth about Wal-Mart and China.

Click here to watch our new ad and send it to five friends:

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/foodsafety

Even among nations, Wal-Mart is China’s sixth largest trading partner: it buys more Chinese goods than industrial giants like Germany and Britain. This gives Wal-Mart the power to demand safer products from its Chinese suppliers. Unfortunately, it has demanded nothing more than lower prices, and has tried to cover up the consequences of its race to the bottom.

As consumers, we have the right to know that the products we buy are safe. Don’t let irresponsible corporations like Wal-Mart cut us out of the loop. Please watch our new ad today, and send it to five friends:

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/foodsafety

The more people learn the truth about Wal-Mart, the more public pressure grows for Wal-Mart to change.

You – together with more than 402,000 fellow supporters of WakeUpWalMart.com – have the power to make Wal-Mart put people first.

Amidst seemingly endless recalls of dangerous products, Wal-Mart has tried to keep American consumers in the dark.

Let’s shine a light.

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/foodsafety

Thanks for all that you do,

The Team
WakeUpWalMart.com

Rebuilding Your Credit

Crdit cards are so prevalent these days, they start pursuing kids when they are in High School to get them. The problem is that by the time someone gradates college they are most likley in debt both with school loans and the credit card companies. So at the ripe old age of 22 you have bad credit and have to start over again. What are we teaching our kids by letting these companies take advantage of them like that? Someone recently said that if you owe money with interest payments you are effectivley their slave, and I am beginning to think that is true.

When did shoes get so expensive???

I was just at Nordstrom on Michigan Avenue at lunch because I had to buy a gift certificate for someone’s birthday coming up. It is a store that almost everyone likes because they have stylish and high quality clothing and accessories for sale. It is always a pleasure to shop there and the sales people are some of the most helpful I have ever met. But where do they get off charging $269.00 for a pair of shoes?

Seriously. Who has that kind of money to spend on something as utilitarian as shoes? First the $500.00 handbag came into existence and now they want us to pay $250.00 or more for shoes? I think not!

I thought it might just be one pair that was fancy or by a big name designer but I picked up 4 more pairs all over $250.00. In fact I couldn’t find any pairs of shoes in any style for less than $100.00. What would the people who buy and wear these shoes while walking right next to me on Michigan Ave think of my $30.00 Target ankle boots that are 2 years old and have the heels worn down at the outsides and occasionally slip and I have to catch myself? I’m not poor. I make a good living, I just can’t justify spending that much money on something you will purposely wear on the pavement outside and will get ruined or worn out in a year or less. They are just shoes!

Maybe my black target ankle boots need to be thrown out, but I have a backup pair already waiting. I just haven’t had the time to break them in a bit so I don’t get blisters walking downtown. Yes, that’s 2 pairs of boots for $60.00. Still not even near spending $269.00. In fact over the summer I bought 2 pairs of flats for $25.00 each and last year I bought a pair of flats, a pair of wedge heels and the backup pair of Target boots. All $30.00 and under. That’s it. I don’t buy many shoes at all, and the requirement is that they be somewhat comfortable and black. I only wear black shoes. It’s most practical.

The only down side to this is that I know the shoes I buy are made in China. I hate that I am weakening our economy by buying imports, but the expensive ones at Nordstrom aren’t from the U.S. either.  They are all from China too, just more expensive on markup. So, it’s a lose-lose proposition and I choose the more financially responsible route.

So, I guess I am not the target of Nordstrom’s marketing. But who would want to be? Ok, if you are a Billionaire, go ahead, buy whatever you want. But the rest of us just end up with a lot of credit card debt if we cave in and buy stuff from Nordstrom all the time. So I would rather not have the debt and have my old boots any day of the week.

Christmas Shopping already? Yes!

Yes, I am thinking about the holidays and shopping already. I have started to make a list of gifts for family and friends but what I actually get will depend on what is available as I save money across the next few months. I know that friends, parents, significant others, siblings and coworkers are hard to buy for depending on what they like and do for fun. I have always taken pride in being able to find unique gifts that are particularly fitting to each person and are exactly what they need and want. So this year should not be any exception. Here are some tips I use for always getting good presents for people I know.

First off, I use online shopping coupons any time they are available. You can do a google search for the store you need when you are at checkout and find what you need to save an extra 10% or get free shipping.

Second, I try and take note of anything that people are interested in as hobbies or sports to find something within the range that they would like. I also listen closely about if they need something mundane but important and they haven’t had the time or money to get it.

Lastly, if they are the person who has it all and nothing is of particular interest, or they live far away, I usually go with a gift card certificate for a store they like. Target Coupons, Old Navy Coupons and Amazon Coupons are always great for most people.

America’s next top model

I am not a regular viewer of America’s Next Top Model because the phony world of modeling isn’t something I identify with much. I did just watch the show though on replay because it was the best available option on Sunday night. ABC has gone with an all drama lineup that promises to take things to such extremes that it is a soap opera, NBC is all Football (ewww), I don’t get CBS here and PBS is all war all the time now. So that left shopping at Old Navy with ANTM. I thought that the anti smoking initiative was a positive step for these models who usually smoke like chimneys. And I have always thought that Old Navy was a great place for basics like jeans, t-shirts and tanks. (although all of their clothing are made overseas and a lot are made in China) It was nice to see the models embrace it even though it was not a high fashion designer. I end up mixing old navy pieces with all kinds of stuff and it always works out. Anyway I just wanted to say that I wasn’t as turned off by watching models catfight as I thought I would be, but then again this week was low on catfights.

Old Navy Clothing Sale – Don’t overlook them

Ok, back to the idea of getting more for your money, and not spending more. I think Old Navy is the most overlooked and undervalued store. I know just hearing about them you instantly think of cheaply made clothing that is trendy for one season and only skinny people can wear. Well, if you take some time and look closely they have a lot of basic functional clothing that is appropriate for business casual offices. Sure you don’t get a lot of color options, sure there is some ugly and cheap looking crappy clothing, but you don’t buy those pieces. Here are some women’s clothing items I think they do really well and you can save a lot of money if you ignore the Jcrew and Banana Republic ads and get instead.

1. Courderoys. Yes they remind you of your childhood, but in the winter they are great at staying warm even when you are out in a city like Chicago. Sure they’re casual, but with the right sweater, shoes and accessories, they look ok in the office. Right now courderoys are 1/2 price and I got 2 pairs for $14.00 each. Go quick before the middle sizes run out. (they are always out of 8, 10 & 12 if you wait too long)

2. Jeans. I openly loathe fancy designer jean brands. Old Navy has been producing a plethora of colors, cuts, styles and finishes of jeans for years and most of them cost around $26.50. Their denim jeans are not all that different for us adults that are past the designer label equals personal worth stage in our lives. I have worn them for years. And they have new styles out every few months that copy the runways and fancy brands. Latley they have tried to go upmarket by making 3 premium jean styles: The Flirt, The Romantic and The Sweetheart. These were $30.00 but are on sale right now for $25.00.

3. Dress pants and skirts. Unless you have to wear a suit to work, most of us mix and match shirts, sweaters and slacks or skirts every day. Old Navy offers a good selection of dress pants that can be worked into that mix for between $30.00 to $40.00. Take that Ann Taylor! I only very occasionally pay the Jcrew price for dress pants. I can’t justify it. And when they are on sale, it’s even better. 

4. Basics like button down cardigans and twinsets for around $20.00. Basic dress shirts (beware you need to resew buttons on as soon as you get home though) for aroun $20.00 and basic T-Shirts for around 8-10 bucks. They have certain Old Navy colors, so you may want to stay with basic black or white if you don’t want to look like you shop there. 

What not to buy at Old Navy?

1. Accessories – purses, jewelry, hats, socks - they look gaudy and cheap so you don’t have to.

2. Shoes – way uncomfortable cardboard like shoes and heels that will cut your feet up.

3. Some Sweaters – if it’s made of that 1980′s cotton that fades, don’t touch it. You will end up throwing it out after 2 wearings.

4. Trendy Revealing Stuff – Leave that to the teens. Us adults don’t need micro mini skirts, short shorts, strapless tops, ruffles, bows and spagetti strap revealing clothing. They also seem to do a lot with satin, which makes us middle age people look fat. And latley the 80′s stuff is back. Ewww. Metalic purses, Faded grey jeans and off the shoulder sweatshirts. Yuck, I lived through that once already and that is enough.  And pocket and cargo pants are so over. Why do they even still sell them for women? They make you look like a guy.

5. Probably not gifts. People really hate that you got them cheap stuff. So, unless it’s for kids that are just going to wear it out anyway, I wouldn’t buy gifts there. It’s just not socially acceptable.

Rainy Day Marketing Ideas

It was puring rain this morning as I got off the train and had to walk 5 blocks to work. I always carry an umbrella because it has a habit of raining without warning when I am away from my car and home downtown. So my head and upper body stayed dry, but the driving rain made sure that from my knees down I was soaked. My shoes squished with water and my cuffed jeans will surely not be dry before I have to go home tonight.

What I wonder is if there isn’t an idea here for a way you could get temporary shoes or better covering umbrellas somewhere in a pinch? I have flip flops in a drawer here at work, so that’s what I will be wearing all day today, but my pants change color at the knees and will be wet for a long time to come. Maybe a vending machine at train stations for a cheap plastic, but big umbrella that covers you completley. Maybe galoshes? Something? It’s just frustrating that in this day and age we still are walking around getting soaked because we have to walk to work because there is no parking downtown. Sometimes we thing we have technologically evolved past the inconvieniences of weather and can live a uniform and productive life, and then mother nathure show us that she can still ruin everything whenever she wants.

Back to School Shopping

The center for media research never dissapoints. They send over yummy morsels of data daily and the delectable tidbit yesterday was about back to college school shopping. Apparently “students and their parents will spend a combined average of $956.93 on back-to-college merchandise, up from last year’s $880.52, for a total of $47.3 billion gearing up for college“. 

Woah! $956.93??? Who spends almost a thousand dollars on back to college or school? (unless you are buying a computer, of which you needed before school so it isn’t really a back to school item) This is in addition to tuition, room, books and board? Apparently I can never afford to have kids.

Back to College Products Purchase Plans
	% of Respondents	Expected Expenditure 2007
Textbooks	83.6%	$15 billion
School supplies (notebooks, folders, pencils, backpacks)	83.4%	$3.14 billion
Clothing and accessories (except shoes)	69.2%	$7.41 billion
Shoes	62.0%	$2.96 billion
Electronics and computer related	50.3%	$12.8 billion
Dorm or apartment furnishings	36.5%	$5.43 billion
Source: NRF, August 2007

They list ipods, digital cameras and cell phones as tops on the list, but most of those things you should already have and aren’t really a back to school item. Boy am I glad I went to college in an era when no one had their own computer and you had to go to the lab to type your papers. Life was cheaper then. The most I got when I went off to college was some extra long college dorm bedding, a shower caddy, a few towels and a desk chair. If you wanted to use the phone each dorm had a land line you had to share with your roomate. I didn’t even have a TV, luckilly my roomates always did. I was impressed by cable. Today kids aren’t impressed unless you have 500 friends in your network. Boy how times have changed since 1995. Is it any wonder that I work in an industry and in a job that didn’t exist then?