?? Why Apple is first to the next platform, and ?? How AI farms will change what you eat (Part Deux)

Hey Friends,

At Single Partners our mission is to 10x your output. Our weekly dose of Monday Morsels centres on building “mental models” in AI, automation and the technologies or business models that support it. This week we cover why Apple is first to the next platform, and how AI farms will change what you eat (Part Deux).

Why Apple is first to the next platform —

For a few months now I’ve been riffing with a few close people on the next runtime in computing that dictates our world. I’m starting to envision a society where we’re no longer desk-bound but completely wireless yet still connected. This vision was illuminated by “Imagineality” with their infographic on Magic Leap's system - pieced together by patents & media releases.

The reason why I’m so fascinated by this is that I believe we’re seeing the next runtime forming in front of our eyes that could see a similar Cambrian explosion to the smartphone/app craze. That runtime is a wireless future that supports artificial general intelligence (eventually) and looks to a future where we put on our AR lens & Air Pods. The iterations could look something like below:

1.0 - Watch, Airpods, Phone

2.0 - Watch, Airpods, Phone, AR Glass

3.0 - Watch, Airpods, AR Glass

4.0 - Watch, Airpods, AR Lens

5.0 - Airpods, AR Lens

6.0 - WiFI Enabled Implanted Chips, AR Lens

Why do I believe this is the next runtime? AR paired with AI proves to an exceptionally better way of living, it’s more mobile, free flowing and frankly healthier, adding a pull trend towards this runtime. AI is proving to be better at doctors in diagnosing disease, voice to text is now more accurate than written text, Magic Leap have shown of the ease in ordering products with AR, and companies are starting to release early stage chips that are implanted into your brain. I believe Apple is best placed as they utilise AI as a feature of product development rather than product itself, they're willing to lay the groundwork over many generations of products, AR/VR will be made mainstream by phones before glasses where Apple has the competitive advantage, and the new iPhone as an example of a system that could support the first AR platform.

I’m quite excited by these advances over the last few months as I think that we’re sitting at one of the greatest moments for technology. As further elements develop over the next year we’ll try to create a “thesis” on the stack, much like Agriculture below.

Image: Her (2013), YouTube

How AI farms will change what you eat (Part Deux) —

After our recent coverage of AI & vertical farming, I was lucky to be introduced to Stuart Chignell, an individual currently working within the “AgTech” space. I had the opportunity to pick Stuart’s brain for a good hour and was able to make updates for our “thesis” on the value chain in AgTech. For those who read our previous “thesis", we have an analysis on agriculture & food distribution. Due to society's movement towards the city, and a booming global population; the need for accessible healthy food will require a higher level of production that our centralised farming & food distribution system won't be able to handle in the 10+ years.

Using Alex Danco’s Paradigm Shifts, and Kevin Kelly’s discussion of technology flows we initially identified the scarce resource as access to cheap, fresh, healthy food.

But after our discussion with Stuart he highlighted that our number one limited resource is: water conversion. Australia is known for having over 17.5% of the arable land within the Asia Pacific but only 3.3% of renewable water sources. Furthermore, our ability to better convert water from different buckets as highlighted by Alex Danco (water never truly disappears, it just moves from bucket to bucket) could be the technology trigger that changes the agriculture paradigm.

We highlighted that the first step is creating smart farms. We believe this is still the case, but using the technology Stuart highlighted (integrated aquaponics systems) will be the crucial component to this. Using these type of systems could have an exponential change to the abundance of water, therefore improving the platform for which we grow and consume healthy food. We believe that the opportunity in the stack will be as below and that the best companies that create the greatest competitive advantage will integrate multiple areas of these modular parts.

AI enabled, integrated farms >> PLATFORM (retailer) >> Logistics << Consumers

Image: Wired

Random Morsels to get smarter

The key to having a toolkit of generalist skills is to read outside of your competency in challenging topics. Here is a list of our top reads for the week:

• How Spielberg Constructs a Battle Scene. I do enjoy “Nerd Writer's” analysis of movies, politics, and society. Being that Saving Private Ryan is also one of my favourite films, I found his point that “anyone can capture chaos, but only the best can capture chaos with clarity” superb. It distills down what creating great content should be; sometimes distracting, but above all clear in the message. This analysis is a great principle for new content producers to follow by - take your users on a journey, but ensure your message is always clear.
• Google, Uber & The Evolution of “TaaS”. Fantastic expansion on our recent discussion on transport as a service detailing the four likely stages before we get to fully automated cars as a service on some form of platform. Those interested in this space will also be intrigued by this Quora answer, which details how Didi beat Uber in China. In particular, Didi became a lead generation tool for WeChat Wallet users (much like our fuel discounts with Woolworths & Coles in Australia), so Uber had no chance from the very start.
• How Snowden Escaped. Fascinating piece on the lengths Edward Snowden and his legal team went to remain hidden from US & Hong Kong authorities before he escaped. If you’re not a fan of Edward Snowden or the extent of his leaks, then you should seriously consider watching the VICE State of Surveillance, an insightful guide as to how much privacy you truly have.

Thanks for reading,

Jordan Michaelides

We're Single Partners; our mission is to 10x the output of entrepreneurs & investors through using artificial intelligence (AI), its supporting technologies & business models. We create content for our  community that develops your knowledge in these areas.