Cool Hunting

I too made it to Nextfest, Wired Magazine's showcase of all things futuristic. Interestingly, the press day was also the education day so it was a great chance to see how kids responded to all the exhibits. It was no surprise that they found all things glowing and blinking to be most interesting. The big differentiator for today's youth is the expectation for interactivity-- across all the categories of Nextfest (Communication, Design, Entertainment, Exploration, Health, Security and Transportation), technology now includes the user as an active participant instead of a passive consumer. While I was checking email at a glowing T-Mobile Hot Spot table a couple kids even came up to me to ask what the table does.

For some great highlights of the event, head over to Core77.