I have taken the long 4th weekend to process Steve Gillmor’s idea of an Attention OS. I should have it all processed soon but my brain is hurting. So far all I can say is, Steve that must have been one heck of a dream. More to follow.
Links:
Steve Gillmor’s RSS Feed
The Attention Operating System
I read Jonathan Schwartz suggested the automobile companies could give cars away free in exchange for a subscription to their telematics service (like On Star). So I thought about the possibilities and there are a boat load. Advertising and product placement (where does Starbucks put the next store) based on attention data gathered from the telematics system. A car could be collecting information on the radio shows you listen to, when you change channels, and know what roads you frequent (I’m sure Infinity outdoor would love that information). The telematics system could provide the radio with geolocated advertising like advertisements for the doughnut shop you are about to pass.
So it goes, sell them the car, require a subscription to telematics, gather data, sell the data to advertisers, funnel advertising into the car and put companies like shadow traffic out of business. The opportunities are limitless.
I was listening to WBEZ public radio and there was an article on the creation of a DNA database at children’s hospital. Now there is nothing more basic than the gesture of life. The weird thing is that the DNA database will be used to create cures for diseases, those cures will be patented and then sold for a profit by some company. Who knows it may be sold back to a member of the DNA database that contributed to its creation. This is similar to use of biopsy wax blocks by Genomic to prove their product. The number and size of DNA databases are growing by the day. I have a wax block somewhere at the University of Michigan for use in a specific study. If one of my genes is the basis for some treatment or cure should I not be compensated? Should I at least be included in the patent as co-inventor? How does one protect and monetize their DNA?
The real issue is that we must be vigilant in understanding how our attention/gesture data is being used and when it is being collected.
Tom The Architect 