Curated by Stuart Fogarty stuart@admaticallycom for AFAO'Meara Advertising, Streamabout The Video Agency and Admatic Ireland.
All comments will be posted - promise!
Google have launched a self-driving car prototype and a video to go with it. We know about it, but haven't seen their own car design working until now. It does about 25 mph for now but when proven, this will increase as it's a matter of safety, not technology. They're safer too of course, than driver cars - technology knows where it is, where it's going, when to stop and so on, all activated by sensors. The advantage? I'm not sure... although I do get it for people who can't drive per se such as those with poor/no sight. I do get too that it will make the roads safer. All good. But the real advantage is on long distances, it's much easier on the driver and we'll be prepared to travel further distances because of the driver fatigue. In fact, you could probably sleep on a long journey. It's an insight into the future but for my money, not future enough. I've seen personal jet-packs and they work and because they've no roads, go from A to B quicker and ideal for a commute with no parking. That's the future of local travel. Are jet-packs safe? Nope, not at all. But put the driverless Google technology into them and now you have got a real mind-bending proposition.
As we're coming to the end of The European Elections, it's pretty clear that an anti-austerity vote will prevail as well as, or as a consequence, a shift to the extremes, left and right. Success for National Front in France, Golden Dawn in Greece, Sinn Fein and Independents in Ireland, UKIP in England and so on, show the shift. It does point to a de-stabilisation of Europe.....but it's absolutely clear that these parties were more techy and it helped them. Can you win an Election in the future, without a clear strategy and focus on Twitter? Unlikely. The reason too is the declining impact of traditional TV throughout the day and their political restrictions. Twitter doesn't have any of that. Building audiences on Twitter is now key to getting elected as much as being active on Twitter. It's more important than local clinics. Indeed, parties are opening special Twitter accounts where constituents can tweet in issues for comment or to generate response. Like the freephone telephone numbers of old. Twitter help. Twitter has also said that it's happy to facilitate (in a media way) any campaign commercially, which shows it recognises its own role. Furthermore it fundamentally reduces the role of National media supporting one candidate or one party over another. Those days, it seems, are going. And what that shows is the democratisation of Elections. Twitter is unbiased (save the opinions from those you choose you follow) and it's free as well as being national or global. It's allowing poorly funded political groups, whom in the past wouldn't have large media access, an opportunity to be heard on a level playing field. The party that does a good job on Twitter, will probably be the one that makes ground. And that's a good thing.
