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The Times: Me-conomy trends for 2010
The British newspaper has spotted the trends for the year to come: Video instead of words. Everything will happen now.
The mobile will act as your eyes, ears and mental taster. Intelligent make-up will make you loook better. Love has a lot
to do with it. Have a taste and take the full bite from the paper's websit
It's hard to predict the future, but one can always give it a try." The British flagship newspaper The Times did just that January 3 and outlined 50 trends, some more interesting than others. Have a go and see, if your imagination and your sense of futurism is on the right track:
1) VIDEO
Get over your camera phobia: the next decade will be "video, video, video", declares Zoe Lazarus, trend analyst at Lowe Worldwide. Prepare to move from words to images. If the Noughties was the decade we forgot how to spell, will this be when we forget how to read?
2) GOING LIVE
Hold on tight: modern life is moving into the "now", says the ad agency JWT, with a constantly updated stream of real-time information and virtual interaction. Think Twitter buzz, vlogs (video blogs), breaking news and rapid, mobile response. Do keep up.
3) TWINDUSTRIES
Twitter is going to clean up, with social transport (a phenomenon that started with Tweetbike -- tweet for a pick-up), bespoke Twitter gigs (Frankmusik's latest tour, in fans' bedrooms, was guided by their tweets) and alerts on everything from bread straight out of the oven to asthma warnings (see MediClim).
4) MOBILITY
Let's hope Santa delivered a smartphone. Your mobile will serve as entertainer, currency, friend-finder and informer, says Yannis Kavounis, of The Futures Company: "Our phones will take us away from our screens and get us out there."
5) AUGMENTED REALITY
The Minority Report has arrived: according to Trendcentral, AR will allow consumers to view digital content (local stockists of your fave brand, restaurant reviews or nearby houses for sale) overlaid onto the streets before you.
6) TRANSMEDIA
Interactive storytelling across film, comics and gaming (remember, pictures are the new words). You can also connect with friends on screen -- so as you read/view your story, you can comment on it with friends. Check out the Amanda Project for young girls.
Virtual fitting rooms
7) INTELLIGENT SHOPPING
Favourite websites will already know your shape, preferred brands and, of course, credit-card number. Tobi.com has virtual fitting rooms (using webcams and motion sensors) and posts your image to Facebook for friends' opinions. And with a smartphone and the ShopSavvy app, scan an item's bar code to find cheaper versions.
8) EVENT SHOPPING
To get consumers offline and into the store, shops are working up the experiential quotient. Expect in-store events, "rock-up" spaces (even more guerrilla than pop-up) and designer collaborations, only "IRL" (in real life).
Love is the holy grail of 2010
15) THE END OF CABLES
You can already beam television around the house without having to run a cable under the Persian rug, and wireless charging pads exist that can power up multiple gadgets. Eventually, phones will feature solar panels, just as calculators used to.
16) THE DIGITAL PA
Voice recognition grows up (and gets better). Many gadgets -- phones and satnavs, for instance -- already respond to voice commands, but soon they'll be able to talk back, with up-to-the-minute, local recommendations. Bad news for real-life friends.
17) TOMORROW'S TRAVEL
With no icecaps, try outer space for holiday top trumps. Since Virgin Galactic's inaugural commercial flight, with only six £121,000 seats, is already full, head instead to Spain, when the high-speed Paris-Madrid link opens in 2012(ish).
18) LOVE IS THE NEW HAPPINESS
The self-help gurus herald love as the next holy grail. But this isn't about smug, coupled-up bliss -- more a big-hearted approach to work, money, family, community, even politics. The happiness guru Robert Holden leads the fray, with workshops on how love can be applied to all.
Caring and sharing
20) SHARING
Spread that love with pot-luck parties, where everyone brings a dish. This is the American trendspotter Marian Salzman's tip for the future. Borrowing from neighbours is about to get much easier, she anticipates, as the NeighborGoods model (a kind of lending Freecycle) picks up here.
21) MASS MINGLING
Social networking goes hypersocial: "Popular online services are all about tracking, connecting to and meeting interesting people," Trendwatching.com says. Try meetup.com.
22) WE-COMMERCE
Cutting out the middle man, pooling resources and starving those fat cats is the new growth area, Kavounis says. It could be "so long" to Tescopoly if Arthur Potts Dawson pulls off The People's Supermarket, run by the people for the people (www.peoplessupermarket.org ).
23) EMOTIONAL SPACE
You'll yearn to retreat from the modern buzz to "safe spaces", Salzman says -- empty your head by the sea, camp en famille, get low-key.
24) SOCIAL LUXURY
Seeing as we've exhausted conventional luxury, the new consumer high will come instead from social enterprise. For example, Chocolate & Love employs people with Down's syndrome to pack the choccies. It's about feeling good, not guilty.
25) LEARNING
Brace yourself for swotty holidays -- Salzman predicts that we'll all be up for educational self-improvement to overhaul our lives and reinvent our shallow Noughties selves.
27) TRICARE
An ageing population means a rise in "sandwich" families -- with children and elderly parents to look after. Tricare to the rescue: childcare, elder care and pet care in one happy space. And nobody to mind the noise.
Brand me - brand you
35) BRAND ME
Your own brand starts with your public profile (such as Facebook) -- which must appeal to employers, mates and dates -- and finishes with the "me-conomy", says Reinier Evers, of Trendwatching.com. As respect for multinationals plummets, so the independent revolution arises.
37) DIY PUBLISHING
MagCloud (magcloud.com ) can publish one copy, or one million, of your magazine. Blurb (blurb.com) does the same with books. As new rules make blogs more transparent, they'll get more credible.
38) CONSUMER FACING
Even Mary Portas will be this, when she starts selling direct on Maryportas.com next year. We'll all be commercialising our wardrobes and shopping from friends, reckons Salzman. Supermarketsarah.com was there first.
Virtual fashion clubs
41) MEMBERS-ONLY FASHION
To avoid that doppelgänger effect, apply to Vonrosen (vonrosen.com), a shamelessly exclusive Berlin label -- only those approved by the company are permitted to purchase.
43) YOU, THE DESIGNER
It's the decade of creative collaboration, asserts Trendwatching.com, as brands move away from a transactional, us-and-them mentality. Where Nike ID led, others will follow. Selfridges hosts frequent customising events, such as Louis Vuitton monogramming. Create your own heirlooms.
45) VAIN BRAINS
Forget about cup size -- a high IQ will be key in finding a mate, Salzman says. A healthy brain, boosted by exercise or supplements, will be the new six-pack, she predicts. We'll post our IQs on Match.com, and neurologists will be the new surgeons as we queue for our brain nip/tucks. No, no, you first.
47) SNORTING STEM CELLS
According to New Scientist, stem cells could be used for treating neurological conditions such as Parkinson's, strokes and Alzheimer's. To get them to the brain, you might have to inhale them.
Products imitate real skin
49) INTELLIGENT MAKE-UP
"We'll be seeing skincare morphed with make-up, such as foundation resembling well-moisturised skin," says Terry Barber, of Mac. He forecasts powder-based products that imitate real skin, spelling the end of excessively groomed "Waginess". We also welcome the predicted demise of short-term celebrity fragrances.
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Read more:
www.timesonline.co.uk
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