Tag: Technology

Faster is better commercial

Early indoctrination into the cult of speed. Though I have to admit that I prefer my iPhone on the fast side…

Slow, stress and life

Planning to do some talks and workshops with the DeStress Show in the UK. We filmed this as a primer.

Unplug to connect

A sweet reminder of why unplugging the gadgets can bring us closer together.

Orange Turn Off Phones Ad

Many brands are tapping into the growing yearning to unplug, slow down and live more fully. Sometimes the product itself  fits snugly with this Slow ethos; sometimes less so. Either way, it’s another sign that  the idea the slower can be better is gaining currency.

This is an ad from the Orange mobile phone company. It sings the praises of unplugging from technology. The tagline is: “Good things happen when your phone is switched off.”

This sounds like commercial suicide for a phone company, but it’s not. Orange knows that we’ll carry on using our phones. But they also know that more and more people are waking up to the fact that being “always on” erodes our quality of life  – and they want to be part of that conversation.

Tech for kids?

Two new studies on the effect that the new technologies are having on children. As always, the picture is mixed and a bit contradictory.

Yes, the new gadgets can help with learning. But only if used wisely.

If technology is good, many children are getting too much of a good thing. All those hours spent in front of screens are conditioning them (and the rest of us, for that matter) to expect everything to happen at the speed of software.

Result: shorter attention spans; lack of focus and concentration; a tendency to give up when an easy answer does not present itself at the click of a button.

What’s the take-home? Like most things, technology is good – in the right dosage.

Can gaming spark a revolution in savings?

A few months, ago, I was invited to join a think called the Future Prosperity Panel. It was convened in London by Aviva, a global financial services company. There were nine members (they called us “thinkers”) on the panel, all from different backgrounds. The aim was to reach beyond the traditional confines of the City and Wall Street to find fresh ideas for reshaping financial services for the future.

Each thinker wrote an essay putting forward a single idea. Mine was that we might be able to inspire people to save more if we make saving more like a game. Since I submitted the piece, the media has been full of stories of how “gamification” is working wonders in many fields of human activity. So perhaps I was on to something.

You can read a very abridged version of my essay on Page 3 of today’s Financial Times. An interview with me will be broadcast on Radio 4’s Today Programme very soon (depending on how the News of the World story plays out).

And for the full version of the essay plus a video interview and more background on the think tank, click here.

Jump into the debate and let me know what you think….