The Techno-Optimist

Cheap PV thanks to robots, not cheap labour. $200 000 Australian thin-film PV printer.

Ionut Budisteanu, 19, of Romania was awarded first place for using artificial intelligence to create a viable model for a low-cost, self-driving car at this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a program of Society for Science & the Public.

Emerging Objects is interested in the creation of 3D printed buildings, building components and interior accessories that can be seen as sustainable, inexpensive, stronger, smarter, recyclable, customizable and perhaps even reparable to the environment.

3D printed bionic ears.

Britain’s skies could soon be buzzing with pilotless drones fighting fires, assessing storm damage and delivering transplant organs as companies seek to persuade regulators to lift controls on their use. - UK plans to lead world in commercial use of drones.

US retailer Staples to sell the Cube 3D printer for $1300

I tried to define my criteria for inclusion on the about page, but this trend also informed my thinking.

Private alternatives are naturally riskier when diminishing capital returns are guaranteed to manifest more quickly due to the collaborative “free” effect.

Indeed, unless you invest in an industry monopoly which is prepared to sue anyone who tries to compete in their field — often in a way that suspends or regresses technology — it’s unclear whether the company in question will have enough time in the limelight to be able to return your capital, let alone interest, before it is obliterated by a market competitor or the collective collaborative base.

What’s more, when so much is available for free in the market, who can actually be bothered to spend on stuff that, you know, costs something? 

Why a “free” market changes everything | FT Alphaville

Note that I don’t think solar or battery manufacturing is a defensible model, but I do think one of the few areas for surplus (profit) is in developing new high-end technology. Beyond that, your business model should assume (as Tesla does, for example) that they’ll keep getting cheaper, and build a brand-defensible service on top of it.

Matternet: as satellite cellphones leapfrogged landlines, so a drone network will leapfrog roads.

Additive manufacturing is growing apace in China - The Economist

“Just as people still want to attend a concert, go to a high-quality bookstore, or prefer to see a hockey game in person rather than on TV, there will still be a place for physical classrooms and the exciting face-to-face experiences of learning.” - Technology will change universities as it changed the music industry