Nice chart
Another map (not mine)
Innovation in textiles apparently. Link.
The on-demand economy
Two interesting conversations last week. The first concerned generational attitudes to privacy. A friend was considering putting their home on Airbnb. His daughter (22) thought it was a great idea. His wife (40 something) was horrified. It exposed differing attitudes to not only privacy but possessions. Ownership Vs. access too. I thought it was interesting.
The second conversation was with a retailer. I had long thought that the new ‘on demand’ economy had a small glitch, which was its business model and economics. Essentially, retailers aren’t making any money on instant (same day) delivery. Customers won’t pay much more than a few pounds to have something delivered on the same day, but it costs more than this to do it. Not sustainable, unless someone can unlock value somewhere or possibly bundle the delivery cost into something else or support it with something else (ads?).
Create Your Own Future
Quote of the Week
“Sooner or later you’ll have a computer attached to your face.” David J. Hill.
The Last Days of Cash
I was flying back from Germany yesterday and opened the BA snack menu only to find that they no longer accepted cash (is that even legal to do that?). Then this morning I was at Bill Granger’s cafe in Notting Hill and when I got out a £20 note to pay the reaction was “Oh…cash”. I guess my inclusion of cash as a partial ruin on my latest map isn’t that far off the truth after all.
Map blank
Dying alone
The number of paupers’ funerals in London almost doubled between 2013-2016 according to the latest figures. A pauper’s funeral is one in which people die alone or without known relatives and the cost of the funeral is met by the local authority. The reason given for the increase is longer human lifespans, squeezed incomes, the rising cost of traditional funerals and the increase in the number of people living alone.
In the past you needed life insurance in case you died. In the future you’ll need it in case you don’t.