Trendspotter

Outwitting Disease

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:36:11 -0800

Across the developed world, people are living longer than ever, thanks to greater health awareness and advances in medical science. That's not to say that older generations are leading disease-free lives. But pills and procedures (often non-invasive) are allowing more people to live with chronic ailments and survive surgeries that have historically killed patients at a younger age. And in many cases, they're able to sustain a fairly comfortable quality of life. ...

Radical Transparency

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:33:12 -0800

In a wired world where massive amounts of data are stored in digital form, practically any information one may want resides on a server somewhere; you can never be sure that hackers, crackers and security specialists don't know how to access it. The quid pro quo of always-on connectivity is that any electronic communication can be monitored, and movement can be tracked through ISP nodes and cell phones. ...

Rethinking Instant Gratification

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 10:43:38 -0800

Technology is racing to meet people's desire for instant gratification and the growing expectation that they will get it. Already people can get ahold of hit books, music and TV shows, along with back catalogues of classic movies, music and niche products, pretty much whenever they want to online. The same applies to a multitude of products from vacuum cleaners to medication to cars. ...

Trend to the future

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:15:59 -0800

For the last few years, we've compiled yearend lists of trends to watch for. Looking back over our predictions, it's clear that trends with real significance can't be assigned to just one calendar year. The trends explored here, which we believe have real weight and momentum, are shifts that are likely to be with us for a long time.

Technology continues to be a common thread among many of the trends we're highlighting. ...

The New Leisure Is Quiet

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:06:17 -0800

As the world moves faster and faster and we're all bombarded with ever more noise competing for our attention (marketing messages, interpersonal communications, entertainment, etc.), I've noticed an interesting countermeasure: products and places that promise quiet.

"Living in the fast lane might be cool, but it also gives you health risks. S-l-o-w d-o-w-n," advises a recent article on longevity in India Today. "Sleep, look through old photographs, listen to music. ...

Pets - The Next Frontier?

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:01:23 -0800

In my last book, Next Now: Trends for the Future, we looked at the impact of pets (commercial as well as emotional) in terms of trends. Not by accident, our observations appear in the chapter on family-indeed, one survey found that three-quarters of American dog owners claim their canine companions as legitimate family members.

We pointed out that in 2005, Americans spent $36 billion on pet products and services, twice as much as they did just a decade earlier. ...

One Europe?

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:24:50 -0800

I lived and worked in Europe during the very interesting period of the late 1990s, and I co-wrote my book Next: Trends for the Near Future during the much anticipated run-up to the adoption of a single currency (today, 13 of the current 27 members of the EU are using the euro). ...

The Aussie health diagnosis

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:08:45 -0800

The importance of health and wellbeing is on the rise in Australia as the country follows much the same routine seen in the rest of the developed world: rising levels of stress and obesity and a concerned response involving the government, corporations and consumers.

The Australian silhouette is becoming increasingly pear-shaped. ...

Eat, drink and be healthy

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:05:09 -0800

When Wal-Mart announced in March 2006 that it would sell organic food products in the U.S. at just 10 percent above cost
(versus the 20-30 percent that retailers usually add on), it
instantly brought what had been the domain of primarily
affluent, alternative-leaning consumers into the mainstream. ...

Cyber and retail therapy

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:12:26 -0800

The abundance of health information available on the Internet
combined with rising medical costs, disillusionment with doctors and a desire to take more responsibility for one's health has people turning to sites like WebMD in the U.S., NetDoctor in the U.K. and WellBeingSpot in Australia to help diagnose conditions ranging from allergies to osteoporosis. ...