33 Things You'll Be Surprised Didn't Exist 20 Years Ago

 Happy New Year

When reflecting on the past year and peering toward the future, this list will either energize or scare the bejeebers out of you.

Things that didn’t exist January 2002:

Airbnb

Amazon Prime

Amazon Kindle

Android 

Bitcoin

Chrome

Civilian use GPS

Facebook

FaceTime

Firefox

Gmail

Google Maps

Instagram

iOS

iPad

iPhone

LinkedIn

Messenger

Netflix Streaming 

Personal retail DNA testing

Pinterest

Skype

Slack

Snapchat

Spotify

SpaceX

Tesla

TikTok

Twitter

Uber

WhatsApp

YouTube

Zoom

In the words of a famous Virginia Slims ad campaign: "You've come a long way, baby."

Now just imagine with the next 20 years will bring.

Buckle your seatbelt.

Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) Going to Replace Writers in 2022?

Looking back on 2021, the story that might have the biggest future impact on writers is emergence of large natural-language computer models – like GPT-3 from OpenAI - that learn to write.  

GPT-3, currently the largest and most literate, has been trained with access to most of the internet and thousands of books. This is a major step forward toward AI being able to both understand and interact with the world.

So why hasn’t GPT-3 put writers out of business?

• At this stage GPT-3 can only mimic text written by a human.
  
  
• Although the text GPT-3 generates can be impressive, it doesn’t understand what it is writing and much of what it produces is unusable. It can write like a human, but it can't think like a one.
  
  
• It doesn't have the capability to be concerned about the tone of its writing or how specific audiences will perceive it.

• GPT-3, like all current neural networks, lacks the ability to explain/interpret why certain inputs result in specific outputs.

• It has been pre-trained. It does not have an ongoing long-term memory that learns from each interaction. 

• The majority of its training comes from the internet, which is rampant with bias and misinformation.
  
  
• It’s a resource hog, requiring an extraordinary amount of computation power, data, and money to train.

So, is GPT-3 going to replace writers in 2022?

I believe it will become an incredibly useful tool for writers -- sort of like Photoshop is a tool for designers -- but replace? No

At least not in 2022.

But don't ignore it.

In fact, you should learn how to use it.

'Cause it's not going anywhere.

Make sure you're not either.

 

 

Weird Gifts

Is there someone you buy unusual gifts for?

I just stumbled across Weird Christmas gifts ... an Amazon category where you can find things like:

• A calendar featuring photos of pooping dogs
  
  
• A 40-inch long pillow that looks like a baguette
  
  
• And just for us writers, an I before E mug

I’m guessing this is a go to source for people who want to get something for the jokester in the family or to liven up an office “Secret Santa.”

Whatever your reason, it’s reassuring to know that you have easy access to (and in many cases free shipping for):

• Lobster claw gloves
  
  
• A blanket that looks like pepperoni pizza
  
  
• A cat statuette that poops pink cotton candy
  
  
• A squirrel in underpants glass ornament

The algorithm ain’t perfect … there are many “normal” products like a leather notebook/journal, a tea sampler, and women’s snow boots … but … if you’re looking for dehydrated water (just add water) you’ll find it here.

And if you’re looking for a gift for someone like me, you can’t go wrong with the 15th anniversary edition motion-activated Big Mouth Billy Bass.

The 1st Reverse Product Placement

The Pass the Heinz tag line was pitched by fictional ad man Don Draper on the TV show Mad Men.

It was rejected on the show ...

... but not in real life.

50 years after the Mad Men timeline, Heinz ran the campaign pitched by Draper.

The first ever "reverse product placement.”

The result?

Heinz’ most talked about and efficient ad campaign ever.

Heinz’s actual advertising firm David Miami co-credited the campaign to the nonexistent Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (Draper’s agency). The stunt was scheduled to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the premiere of Mad Men.