Forever evolving borders and boundaries

Expanding digital worlds and evolving physical ones

The second week is harder than the first. :)?

Being back in Tokyo has reminded me of how fast the world is changing (first time back in Tokyo since COVID) and how much of it remains the same.? ‘Salary-man’ culture of going out every night has reduced significantly, and taxis got upgraded and touchless payment options are much more prevalent. But Tokyo still retains its dense, quirky, cozy, sparkling clean awesomeness.

And here’s golden nugget from many years ago - what is ‘logical’ is contextual:

Re-affirmed the value of travel and seeing the world through other’s eyes.

Each week, I curate insights that have sparked my curiosity. Your perspectives and feedback are the compass guiding this journey. If you come across an 'edgy' concept or a novel discovery, I invite you to share it with me at [email protected].

1. The metaverse is dead; long-live the metaverse

The term ‘metaverse’ had its time in the light, before it quickly denigrated to a buzzword guaranteed to draw a snarky comment.? Even we started (I think rightly) referring to it more broadly as the ‘immersive internet’.? The metaverse never died, but the hype did. And that was for the best.? ?

Meta had some big announcements at Meta Connect last week, including an October 10th release date for the Meta Quest 3 priced starting at $499. ?Here’s the Expand Your World teaser if you haven’t seen it:

At the same event Meta launched their new Ray Ban Smart Glasses that offers more styling options, better resolution, and improved speakers at the same $299 price as the previous years Ray Ban Stories. See a pattern here? Better, faster, cheaper (well, the same price).?? While not directly connected to the metaverse, these glasses showcase recording and playback on spatial audio, a key component on the ‘immersive’ internet.

2. Stories beyond (language) borders

Spotify is testing a new frontier with AI Voice Translation for podcasts. This AI-powered feature is unique - it doesn’t just translate content into different languages, but also preserves the distinct voice of the podcasters during translation, offering a more personalized listening experience across different languages.

It’s a significant move, not just for Spotify, but for global storytelling. This gives content creators much broader, personalized, access to listeners, and it gives listeners from all over the world and much broader access to knowledge.

We explored similar tech from other startups just a couple of months ago, but it wasn’t quite there yet. With this launch it's clear to see how swiftly technology is evolving, opening new possibilities for connecting creators and listeners worldwide.

*- Hat-tip to Aftab Aziz for bringing this up at our last Dinner on the Edge.

3. Frugal innovation redux?

Can frugal innovation get you to the moon? Turns out, it can.? India’s mission to the moon was not only made history as the first lunar mission to land on the moon’s south pole, it was done at an estimated cost of USD $75MM.? To put that in context, it was less than half the cost of filming a movie about space - Interstellar cost USD $165MM. India's moon mission managed this feat, in part, by building a smaller, lighter craft and driving the lunar program as a series of missions. ??????

India has had a long history of frugal innovation through a structured approach from the Arvind Eye Care System to the Tata Nano.? Jugaad Innovation captured many of those examples over a decade ago, but we seemed to have lost that mindset in the decade of easy money. ?

Could we see a resurgence of interest in frugal innovation in the coming decade?

*- Hat-tip to Romal Shetty for showcasing this to the visitors at the Deloitte Operate Summit.

4. What do belts, roads and pandas have in common?

Sounds like an opening to one of my bad dad-jokes (yes, I enjoy making my kids cringe). But the answer is Geopolitics.

At the recent G20 summit in Delhi, the US and India announced their ambitious rail and shipping corridor project linking the Middle East and Europe.? If large global infrastructure investments sound familiar that may be because of China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI). ?

A big showcasing of soft-power diplomacy, the Belt and Road initiative, just marked it’s 10-year anniversary. Trade in goods between China and countries along the BRI route has doubled since 2013, reaching $2.07 trillion last year. Two-way investment has exceeded $270 billion and created more than 400,000 jobs.? here’s a great recap:

On a sadder turn on another of Chinese global diplomacy the US will no longer have any Pandas after 2024. ?The national zoo in Washington D.C. announced that their pandas will return to China by December and the Atlanta zoo will do the same in 2024.? This will be the first time in 50 years that the US will not have any Pandas on its soil. :(

Quote of the week:

“Missions without margins don’t scale” - anonymous*

* - hat-tip to Todd Porter for bringing this up in a conversation on resilient purpose-led initiatives.? He heard it at recent gathering but wasn’t sure whom to attribute it to.

I hope you enjoyed the second edition of “From the Edge” and found something that piqued your interest. I will look to post 3-5 such insights each week going forward.

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