C_NCENTRATE #867: 2021 pros and cons, and a helpful word about 2022...
THIS ISSUE OF C_NCENTRATE IS FREE THANKS TO TBD CONFERENCE
Get your ticket to ‘Espérance’ now, and you’ll hear from The Economist, Babylon, FT, top writers, and exciting special guests. March 31, ‘22 - all day.
NOTE ON HOLIDAY HOURS: This will be the final issue for 2021. Normal service resumes in the New Year! Happy Holidays.
SOME REASONS TO BE HAPPY GOING INTO 2022
Things might seem like a brown coloured sandwich going into 2022, but 2021 has given as it has taken. A lot that's happened in 2021 has been incredibly positive. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, there's a lot that was decidedly rubbish, and things are going on that will have massive repercussions for the world (Roe Vs Wade, big tech algorithms), you and others in it, but it's not fair to say that 2021 was a doozy.
Scientists have declared that cheese isn’t that bad for you, drones are helping clear up the plastic waste we produce, wireless brain interfaces are now a thing, there’s no more malaria in China, Twitter and Facebook banned the former President from their platforms, the US rejoined WHO and Paris Accords, the world’s first 3D-printed school opened in Africa, Uber drivers have rights now (in the UK at least), Electric Vehicles outsold old fuel ones in Europe, suicide rates went down, Juneteenth became a national holiday, Tesco removed one billion pieces of plastic from its supply chain, the HIV vaccine is looking 97% effective (Phase 1 trials), the Oscars were the most diverse ever, and ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ was cancelled.
__ DO __ Expect good things (and more covid) in 2022, and a while yet, Pfizer says we'll be done in 2024. Between now and then, set yourself goals, pick new hobbies, buy a ticket to TBD Conference (March 31). // __ DON'T __ Think 2022 will be another lost year. 2020 was pure shock and survival, 2021 was acclimatisation, 2022, therefore, could be the year of rebirth and opportunity. Don't forget to see the light and the dark; tech is a prime example. Drones can be used to pick up plastic and equally be used as weapons. Whether you're working or at war, how you apply technology has never been more critical. New behaviours have emerged, a lot never changed, and some olds ones came back; you have the tools you need to succeed if you figure out what matters. Rest now, 2022 is going to be even more interesting and demanding of your focus.
Happy holidays and let me know if the TBD community or I can help you in 2022.
Paul.
Here/Forth year in numbers:
🤝 16 new clients (agencies, big tech, startups)
📦 +750 new subscribers to ‘What Did Amazon Do This Week?’
📢 1 TBD Conference (thanks to Groovy Gecko < highly recommend)
☕ 2 TBD Community Meetups (only three reschedules!)
🎙️ 3 seasons of Mouthwash (TBD’s new audio show on Twitter Spaces and podcast)
🧠 +100 interviews conducted
❎ 1 life goal achieved (being featured in WSJ for WDADTW)
👨💻 +35 pieces written for various outlets
✍️ 2 new books started (update to ‘Disruptive Technologies’ and the second book!)
book!)
🍕 22756973846287346 cups of coffee and rage/covid feelings eaten
»»»» Get your tickets for TBD 2022 (March 31) now!)
THE MOST READ C_NCENTRATE LINK OF 2021 WAS… > 6 mins
TikTok is getting into the food business. > 4 mins
Meta (Facebook) is banning several surveillance-for-hire groups. > 5 mins
The first vertical farm startup to be worth $1b just happened. > 4 mins
Does a machine write better than humans in 2021? > 6 mins
Robot Nannies; kids are ready, but is society? > 6 mins
Why are NFTs exploding? >. 4 mins
6 ways to make Slack less stressful. > 5 mins
The science behind mind-reading. > 7 mins