In 1995 I was engaged in a conversation between several top Virtual Reality Researchers while in a conference in Japan. All where envisioning what was going to happen technologically in the future. There were three words I took away from that enlightening conversation: Ubiquitous, Persistent, Transparent.
Fast forward to 2010, and they were exactly right. Without realizing it, you’re probably connected to the web 24/7, via a ubiquitous, persistent and transparent connection. (Short definition:”always present, all the time, and invisible that you don’t have to really do anything to connect to it”) You probably sleep with your mobile phone no more than 1 meter away (don’t worry about 90% of all people do as well.) and you get upset or fidgety if you’re in a waiting room and you can’t get connection to your emails or the web.
As I look around, I see so many kids walking down the street in total oblivion to their surroundings as their heads are stuck in a connected device. I’ve traveled with many kids to exotic places over the past few years and I’m still amazed at the scenery and amazing things they miss because they’re off in another world. Hello?! What’s the point of traveling when you’re not mentally there?
Don’t get me wrong, hey, I’m in the business, and since 1987, I’ve been a firm believer of the old mantra that technology can give us better quality of life, i.e. work less, experience more of life. It can be a great tool for sampling, experiencing, working smarter, and creating. But if not controlled with some honest self-discipline, it can rob your quality of life and put you into the treadmill of faster / more behind mode where you just can’t seem to ever catch up. One great example is if you get stuck behind a camera on vacation, you tend to only remember your vacation from your photos and not the real thing (i.e. you were too busy taking a photo to enjoy that smoking volcano!)
Firegiants is about creating and implementing quality of life changers, stuff that makes a quality and positive impact on the environment, on organizations, and most importantly, you as a person. It’s about leveraging technology, ubiquitously, persistently and transparently to make things go more efficiently around you, enabling you to disconnect from the technology and let it do it’s thing for you. Giving you time to go smell the roses, anywhere, anytime, anyplace. Give up the cubicle.
If you’ve got a notion of something along these lines, I’d love to hear about it.
Welcome and I hope you enjoy this site.
Scot Refsland, Ph.D.
Founder, Firegiants