Two Pictures of the Future

Bob, this is thoughtful, thorough, and first-class! Clearly, you have gained practical value from these "Pictures of the Future." Over and over, your humble servant here is amazed at how visuals more and more displace print. In fact, today at our Rotary meeting, the local middle school principal, and former district superintendent, sat next to and across from me. Our talk drifted into visual culture replacing print culture. The middle school principal in particular was sensitive to how visuals culture is shaping how the younger generations receive information. In fact, the current Kiplinger trend forecast newsletter estimates a $60-billion economy will emerge around translating information from print into visuals for "M-Learning" (Mobile Learning) through smart phones and related technologies. Yes, we Americans tend to over-hype technology as the "magic bullet" to cure all ills. Yet, your humble servant here has outlined a new business venture (www.downloads4learning.com ) that plans to profit from this trend. It is a work in progress.

 

Also, the concept of economic domains rings true loud and clear here in our neighborhood. Down the road from us is the University of Wisconsin - Platteville. It sits where Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota intersect! It is famous for its engineering and computer science programs. Platteville is becoming an economic domain, a tri-state "energizer bunny" for an emerging 21-st-century economy. IBM opened a campus with 1500 employees in nearby Dubuque, Iowa, a 20-minute drive - across the Mississippi River by bridge - scenic big time - from Platteville. The IBM staff prefer to live in Platteville - because of the university assets there. Down the road in Illinois is an historic restoration town, Galena, the home of President Grant before and after the US Civil War. It is a huge draw for persons who love the arts, antiques, history, skiing, biking, etc. You get the picture. It is a new economic domain that transcends political state boundaries. The university people see this; your humble servant here, too, sees it, which is why he is working to establish business ties there. Moreover, his wife grew up outside Platteville, her late parents both graduated from university there, as did her sister and her husband, an engineer, and this writer lived outside Galen for seven years! We are hoping; the emergence of this new economic domain in the final analysis is what is calling your professor here to get into the "hype and mix" of this domain!