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Airless tyres. Tech Talk Column 244

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

I can remember the days of my youth. Not a care in the world with my main priority of finishing my homework so I could get on my BMX bike and ride the streets with my friends. The feeling of wind in my hair, sun on my face and…damn. A puncture. The…

2021

How are supernovae going to help fight bushfires? Tech Talk Column 243

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

Just over a year ago we were coming out of one of the worst bushfire seasons on record. 18.6 million hectares burnt out; 34 lives lost; 2,600 homes; 1 billion animals. It was also a year ago that we went in to a virus-induced lockdown and the world c…

2021

Was George Orwell a time traveller? Fairfax Tech Talk Column 242

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

I have an admission to make. When people make general reference to swiping left or swiping right, I never know which is the correct direction. Having been married since 1995 I have never had reason to download a dating app. With 270 million people wo…

2021

Home Health Technology – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 241

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

Recently I had the chance to sit down to dinner with our National Rural Health Commissioner, Professor Ruth Stewart. Among many topics of conversation was the average life expectancy for Australians. We are at an all-time high with life expectancy at…

2021

Reshaping the car – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 240

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

In 2015 I visited the Mount Buller Alpine Resort. In summer. I attended the Australian MTB Summit and one session in particular stuck with me. Scot Nicol, the founder of Ibis Bicycles, delivered a discussion on the future of MTB. In his early days of…

2021

Half of Aussies are freeloaders – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 239

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

Very early in my business career, I had a customer who I considered to be a great client. He was buying products and using our services and paying his bills. I got on famously with him. He started to be a little tardy paying bills but I wasn’t that…

2021

Most annoying phone habits – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 238

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

Finding a lifelong partner is a difficult and complicated exercise. From initially meeting someone to agreeing to spend your lives together there is a journey of discovery. Your visions for the future, your values and overall compatibility. Deal-brea…

2021

Mixing virtual and physical pool – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 237

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

I am a bit of a fan of pool – the cue sport rather than the water. I grew up in a household where games of pool with my family were a regular occurrence – be they rivalries with siblings or trying to beat Dad or even the all-in version of Kelly P…

2021

Player up! – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 236

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

“Stop playing those video games and focus on what you are going to do after you finish school” is a common expression heard in the Dickerson household when yours truly is trying to get my kids to stop playing games and do their homework. I would …

2021

A face that pays for you – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 235

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

It is not often that I see a member of the Gen Z cohort lost for words but I recently experienced this rare spectacle. A long-term client had made a purchase and handed over a cheque as payment. They left the store and my Gen Z staff member asked abo…

2021

Technology goes down the toilet – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 234

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

Over the holidays I have been introducing my kids to some classic TV shows, including Gilligan’s Island. I still haven’t worked out why five passengers took so many bags of luggage on a ‘three hour tour’ and surely Thurston Howell III, w…

2021

Technology has gone to the dogs – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 233

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

It is a familiar scene in our household. Early each morning our Maltese Poodle and Toy Poodle scratch at the front door to alert the humans in the house that they are ready to go outside. Very obligingly, a human slides out of bed and lets the two do…

2021

The year that the EV revolution starts – Tech Talk Column 232

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

This will be the year that…how many times do we hear a prediction that finally, after a few false starts or stalled attempts, the BIG change is about to happen. It might be about the performance of an individual in sport or in relation to an electi…

2021

Tech Talk Predictions for 2021

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

As a technology futurist, I perform my research and gather my data and use my experience to predict what medium and long-term trends we will see in the technology space. But somewhat like a Climate Change scientist can tell you the long-term effects …

2021

Better Not Perfect

Small Business Ru!e of the Month

Jack Ridley said, “There was a demon that lived in the air. They said whoever challenged him would die. His controls would freeze up, his plane would buffet wildly, and he would disintegrate. The demon lived at Mach 1 on the meter, 750 miles an hou…

2021

Technology highlights from 2020 – Tech Talk Column 231

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

Throughout the year I have talked technology across the airwaves with over three hundred radio segments and written over fifty technology columns. What were my technology highlights from talking and writing about technology throughout the year? My ov…

2021

Wait…Let me Google that! Tech Talk Column 230

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

Significant dollars are spent on market research and statistical services across this nation. With over 14,000 people employed in the sector it is worth over $3 Billion (US$50 Billion worldwide). While I don’t propose that we should shut down this …

2020

Technology Gifts anyone? Tech Talk Column 229

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

My kids have one major issue at Christmas time. You would think it would be a time of excitement and presents and family gatherings but the pressure on my kids to get a good present for their dad is immense. When you have an individual that has techn…

2020

Digital Vaccine Passport anyone? – Tech Talk Column 228

Fairfax Tech Talk Column

I was very excited this week. Back in the old days (pre-pandemic) I used to visit six different aged care facilities on a monthly basis and perform poetry and talk to the residents about technology. COVID-19 put a stop to that but with the easing of …

2020