The 3 Bells Turns 50!
Yes, this is our 50th issue. We are delighted to reach this milestone - thanks for staying with us. Also, we are taking a holiday break. This is the last issue of 2016 - we'll be back on Friday 6 January.
Best of the season to all.
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Amazon: from clicks to bricks
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Swipe your phone as you enter the supermarket. Pick up any items you want to buy and place them in your basket. Walk out. No cashiers, no queues, no payment, no hassle.
Amazon, having mastered 'clicks' retailing, is doing an interesting makeover of the 'bricks' side. It announced a new Amazon Go store which uses advanced sensors and cameras to record your purchases and put them straight onto your Amazon account. Walk in, walk out. Wow.
You can watch the video here. It was released just a couple of days back, and at the time of writing had clocked up nearly 6 million views. I guess many people look forward to a 'no-queues' future. But remember, that's also a 'no-jobs' future. If this catches on (and it will) there's a lot to think about for economic policy makers...
Photo credit: Amazon (adjusted)
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The internet world has always been click-and-go. Companies like Amazon and Uber are redefining the real-world experience too. Much more drama to come.
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Top car brands are doing an Uber
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The 3 Bells has been telling you about the major changes going on in the strategic thinking of the world's car companies. Here's another issue they are having to face: what happens if car usage is thoroughly 'Uberfied' and cars become a service you hire, not an asset you own? Who will buy cars then? This is clearly an existential threat to the big car brands. Here are 3 interesting responses.
BMW just announced that it will test autonomous vehicles in Munich next year to try and become the "world's coolest" ride-hailing service. The convenience of Uber, with the polish and finesse of BMW. The Germans don't plan to be the biggest ride service, but they do want to capture a high-end niche.
VW says it is launching a spinoff company focused on “new mobility solutions” such as ride-hailing and on-demand autonomous vehicles. The standalone company, Moia, will be headquartered in Berlin.
And secrecy king Apple finally acknowledged that it is working on technology to develop self-driving cars. In a statement to the US highways regulator it said: "The company is investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation."
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Car driving will probably change forever in the coming five or so years. Who will win the new game? Does disruption favour the new upstarts, or will venerable car marques manage to fight their corner? The engines are revving...
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Temp jobs may become the norm
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Jobs are conventional, full-time and hopefully long-lived, right? Not so much. An intriguing study by two economists suggests that "alternative work" is growing amazingly fast. They think that an eye-popping 94% of net job growth in the US over the past decade has been in the alternative category - independent contractors, freelancers and temps. Even the researchers were taken aback. Work is increasingly becoming a series of 'gigs' rather than a permanent job in one place. This will be great for some folks, and terrible for others.
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During your Christmas break, pause to reflect on what work will be like in the coming world, and whether you (or your kids) will have the skill-sets and mindsets to cope. See you all in the New Year.
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