Evolution has a memoryEric Baumgartner

Professional mad scientist

What can the study of evolution

teach us about technology and

predicting trends

Dinosaurs ruled the earth for roughly 160

million years. Many paleontologist still

believe they walk among us—or more

to the point, fly among us

If the reign of the dinosaurs was measured as the

length of a football field then modern human would occupy only 1.5 inches of that field

Awesome

Most theories hold that the earth has

experience at least five extinction level events

With each extinction

level event there is

always a survivor

Evolution favors the small, nimble,

adaptive and social

What creature has had the most

success with evolution?

The Argentine

ant, Linepithema humile

Habitat: everywhere

accept Antarctica

Simple

Adaptive

Connected

Ubiquitous

So how does that theory apply to

technology and what are the

corollaries we can make?

Starting with the Vacuum Tube there has been—arguably—five

major evolution events during the modern digital-technology age

Social

Microchip

PC

Mobile

The Cloud

Vacuum Tube

The Internet

Evolution has a memory.Each jump builds on the

characteristics of the past to

advance the future

The harbingers:

Intel

Microsoft

Google

RIM

Amazon

Apple

Facebook

Kodak

Newsweek

RIM

NASA

BestBuy

Blockbuster

SanDisk

Pulse

Apple

Spaceship One

Amazon

Netflix

Evolution in practice

Each of these companies began

as small, nimble, adaptive and

focused.

So what’s the take away?

Evolution in practice

101001101

010100101

001101001

Data | Content | Utility | Connected

Current tech evolution leaders

Become the ecosystem

Become the preditor

A technology company’s

success is not derived from

how large it becomes, but lies

in its ability to be

simple, adaptive and

ubiquitous.

It is not necessary to

change. Survival is not

mandatory.W. Edwards Deming