Everything has a trend to it; I don't care if it's appliances or engines. I always ask, 'What has a company done in the past five years that somebody's noticed?'
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I expect to see a lot of household appliances on the Net by 2010, as well as autos and other mobile devices.
IT is now reaching out to fuels and chemicals, energy and clean tech, rockets, all kinds of bizarre industries that formerly didn't face much competition.
I'm an inventor. I became interested in long-term trends because an invention has to make sense in the world in which it is finished, not the world in which it is started.
When you see most companies get big, they want to shout about all they've done. But the consumer wants to know: 'What have you done for me lately?'
I feel like I ask people who have been in the industry for a while a lot of questions.
People say they are inventing electric cars. Well, where is the electricity coming from? Flowers? Maybe someday. But what is available now is oil and gas.
Tech is a funny industry; I don't think there is any other industry on the planet that reinvents itself every 10-12 years.
I think we have a great track record on being relevant, on identifying consumer trends, needs and wants.
When looking at trends I always ask myself basic and timeless questions about business, and the one I seem to always come back to is, 'How is this different than anything else in the marketplace?'
Most people are really stunned to find out that the technology has been around for more than 100 years, and that the diesel engine was in fact invented to run on vegetable oil.