In order to develop a new techno-economic paradigm we need to understand what human needs are and then look at the technologies available and those than could be created in a short space of time to create such a new platform for many new products.
The UK economy
Retail
Kitchen
Home and furniture
Garden
DIY, crafts and creative goods
Sport
Leisure
Health/Personal care
Jewellery
Watches
Hobbies
Home entertainment
Photography
Office
PC
Phones
Toys
Food and groceries
Cosmetics and Beauty
Baby goods
Books
Cars
Transport
Novelty goods
Clothing and shoes
Entertainment: Film, Music and computer games
Finance
Insurance
Education
Housing and homes
The question is what new categories are there of consumer goods?
-is the question better specified in terms of what experience the human has having consumed these goods.
-in other words what is important to a human being?
The human condition (what does thou will?):
Need to stop Boredom
Need for unpredictability of experience
Need to socialise and having talking points
Need to create
Need to have meaning and understand
Needs of a geographically dispersed society
Need to eat
Need for social reproduction
Need for biological reproduction
Need for a family/love
Need to nurture and develop/grow something
Need to communicate
Need to feel self-worth, achievement and pride
Need for warmth
Need for social acceptance and social climbing
Need to laugh
Need for intellectual stimulation
Need for healing
Need for psychological resolution of complexes
Need for cultural reproduction
Need for new things
Need for immortality
Need for money
Need for power and control of one’s environment
Need for order and continuity, to represent things as symbols
Need for change
Need for comfort
Need for glamour
Need for magic/the unexplained
Need for something greater
Need for fame and popularity
Need for respect
Need for having something quickly (not having to wait for things)
Need for portability of items that supply a need anywhere
Need to help others
Need to relieve stress
Need to compress information
Need for help in making decisions
Need for romance
Need for sexual stimulation
Need to have a link to others
Need to feel safe
Need to retain memories and experiences
What technologies would allow for a great leap forward in each of the above areas?
- nano technologies and materials
- artifical intelligence
- robots
Perhaps the better approach is to see what technologies there are that can be used to provide a product (or a whole new platform for many products) that does not exist:
Sources:
world patent organisation
oxford: http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/
new scientist
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