Man-of-all Men Bruce Sterling FFWDs ten years to recount how we consume local media in 2017. Call it hyper/nano/ultra/extremelylocal in near future, but don’t ignore it. The future comes in ways we least expect, and Sterling offers an insightful (and visionary) narrative. For those who aren’t well-versed in the genre, here’s a snip from his recent column, but be sure to read the whole story.

I’m dictating this entry — thank heaven for voice recognition — from the passenger seat of a Hyundai GPS-King careering along the Beltway. I downloaded a cool plug-in to block out the gas-food-lodging ads that hit my screen a quarter mile before each exit, so I’m free to concentrate. What do I care about lodging anyway? The best thing about being a top-tier geo blogger is that everyone knows where you are. When the buddy list tells folks you’re in town, they ping to offer you dinner and invite you to sleep on the couch….

These ideas aren’t new, but Sterling combines and weaves them into a tapestry that makes the future come alive. Next time you are in a corporate planning session, don’t think up new products for the future. Read Sterling’s work and chart a course to get there. It’s much harder. And more rewarding.

-From APB