Productivity
How do you see people’s work styles or ways of working changing? What role will technology/devices play in shaping these changes? What do you think will dramatically change how people work in the next couple years?
As far as productivity goes, I believe that work and obligations are spread out throughout one’s entire day and life rather than confined to the office or studio. I am not sure people are doing much more than they used to before. Although, they might be wasting more of the time they spend in office. I know a lot of people who always respond to emails at dinner. If they don’t they get into trouble – this has only been possible for the past 6 or 7 years and is now considered acceptable. Most people I know do many things at once, not really sticking to one employer or profession. And in rough economic times like these, freelancing seems much more common than salaries. If you go to a coffee shop in New York you will see that there is hardly any place left to sit and drink a cup of coffee, but the place if filled with laptops and expensive optical wear.
Do you think iPad will find a niche in the workplace, or do you think it’s more a consumer entertainment device?
The iPad is like a Palm Pilot 2.0. People who like gadgets might enjoy it. I have one but it doesn’t get grease marks from my fingers. I can tilt the screen around and install a bunch of rad software on it. Oh wait! It’s a laptop and it’s way better. They keep making them lighter and faster and I keep feeling like I need to upgrade.
Gaming
How do you think gaming technology will evolve over the next few years? Give some specific examples of things in the gaming space that will change the ways consumers game.
I don’t “game.” Online puzzles and puzzle games can be fun at times. I wouldn’t mind trying a Wii tennis game but I don’t need to play one of those games where you have to decide between saving your girlfriend and killing your best friend. Video games are either like a gangster rap Saw IV, or they let you pretend you are a tank commander killing terrorists to “let the bodies hit the floor.” I think they are the psychological parables of all that is wrong with the snuff film, porn and violence obsessed suburbanites. Whatever happened to virtual reality goggles where you think you are flying through matrices? That would still be cool. Especially if it was transcendental and was like flying through the night sky looking at cities listening to synthesizer music.
Is Facebook or Foursquare a game? Why/why not? What is the next step for online Social Gaming?
Myspace was a game of social role playing and the development of a persona. Facebook is mortifying and revealing, you don’t really get to choose what information it shares because everyone else creates your profile with their tagging and commenting etc. Your online personality in this instance is just trying to remain ‘like’-able. I have not used Foursquare, but it has got such a nerdy vibe to it. It seems like it is meant for “flash mob” pillow fights or lame advertising stuff, and not for individualists (yet).
How do you see multi-player live console gaming changing through technology?
When new technology makes it compelling enough, it might actually seem worth playing to me. As of now it is just World of Warcraft and that stuff is really not sexy or exciting.
Celebrity
What exactly constitutes a celebrity today? What will constitute the ‘celebrity’ of tomorrow?
A celebrity has simply become someone who allows themselves to be successfully exploited through images, video, or other media. As media changes, the definition translates to new forms (youtube diaries, internet pop, funny babies). Whoever masters the new format will have a chance to be a star. Cory Kennedy has technically done nothing whatsoever and remains a celebrity as long as she is photographed and represents her sort of lifestyle. The celebrity of tomorrow will last a shorter period of time and rise to great heights only to fall. If they don’t fall, then they are not celebrities, but rather artists or some other distinguished professionals.
What aspect of celebrity culture do you feel is being overlooked by current media coverage?
The fact that all of it is an illusion and that if people stopped caring so much then they would stop getting 200,000 dollars to show up at a nightclub. Then they would eventually run out of money.
Where do you/your friends get celebrity info/news, and how do you see this changing over the next 2 years?
None of us really have constant sources. The Perez Hilton thing was kinda fascinating but then his worldview won and now that attitude is everywhere. There are sites like Gawker that have pop culture leanings but are smarter. For a long time people I knew would buy US Weekly like it was this really hip guilty pleasure, but it seems to have worn off now that gossip is just so popular.
In-theater Cinema
What will the movie theater experience be like in two years?
3-D blowouts and celebrity driven stories. Indie movies will only show in major cities and in very select theatres. Indie film will not strike back like indie music. It costs too much to make a marginal film and nobody cares that much about art. I can’t think of any indie film that “mattered” in the last 2 years.
What opportunities do you see for brand advertising in the future cinema-theater environment?
I would suffer through more commercials and sponsors if it would make tickets stay fixed at the really high price they are at now.
Is the future of cinema 3D? What do you think about the future of 3D cinema?
Yeah it is. All thrilling and aspiring blockbusters will have no choice but to be 3-D. More realistic movies will stay 2-D. 2-D will be like black and white film for portraits.
NASCAR/NFL
How do you feel NASCAR will change in the future?
I have no interest in NASCAR because the cars just go around and around. I would watch it if it was a race through Siberia or like in movies like Death Race.
Has the way you/your friends follow sports changed? How do you see the sports media evolving?
The only time I watch any sports is when I check my archaic yahoo mail account and there are little videos like “amazing soccer goal”. Other than that, I only like the World Cup and it is best watched at a bar, which I almost never do.
How do you see sports sponsorship changing over the next few years?
This is hard because I don’t really pay much attention to sports, but if it is like anything else then sponsorship works best with the persona that a press agency has created. The person themselves can be a liability (e.g. Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant). Brands will either have to sponsor scandals or pull their support at times and it could be interesting to see which they choose. Also, sports has always been about beverages. I don’t see that changing. Everything is sponsored or owned by telecommunications so maybe that?
Prime Time TV
How do you see TV watching changing over the next 2 years?
On Demand. I wouldn’t watch TV if I couldn’t watch it On Demand
Is Hulu the future of TV? Explain your reasoning here. Will people be willing to pay for Hulu?
I personaly do not like to watch TV on my computer very much. I end up going on facebook or whatever. I also hate low quality video or music. Streaming glitches kill me. Fix all that and we might have the future of TV.
Do you/your friends have an appetite for 3D television? Is its appeal limited to certain situations/genres?
Not at all. TV is a distraction, you just watch it sometimes. You are more invested in movies so it makes more sense. I would watch Blue Planet in 3D, but I would prefer it on DVD.