Tech Trends, Work Tribes and Bond Bulls
Tim Bradshaw, the FT’s San Francisco correspondent, reports from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas about possible technological clues to the future. There are plenty of gimmicks, as this video suggests. ‘The “next big thing” of years gone by, such as 3D TV, is barely visible today,’ he says. Among the wearable health technologies and internet-connected monitoring devices, he notes that Virtual Reality still has not matched the expectations set in 2014 when Facebook paid $2bn to buy Oculus. But he thinks Google’s Daydream platform, which is wireless while retaining head-tracking is a good combination if still too pricey for most consumers.
Another, related question is who might adopt these technologies. Andrew Hill and Emma Jacobs offer readers a humorous portrayal of today’s various ‘work tribes’. The various types might even help companies better understand the thinking and attitudes of their managers. The ‘inveterate conference goer’ is typically seduced by latest technologies and constantly on the lookout to ‘meet new people, get a sense of the zeitgeist.’ The ‘Management guru,’ peddles absurd new business models (like comparing a company’s organisation to the workings of the human gut). The ‘Closet harasser’ is in denial about his own behaviour as he recalls ‘the time I placed my hand on a female colleague’s inner thigh during a performance review but honestly, I thought it was my own inner thigh’). And the Millennial manager, all bean bags, pods and emojis, who tries to win over older staff by giving them gluten-free granola bars.
Finally, many investors are getting more worried about financial markets. In the midst of talk about bubbles, tapering, inflation and politics, they are asking whether we are seeing the end of the bond bull market. The FT provides the best of it comment and analysis in a specially bundled set of articles and analysis.
