Casey Cheshire

On Saturday night I did everything right.  I bought 2 tickets to the new movie Avatar online and assumed there would be a sizable crowd for the IMAX 3D showing, so I arrived 30 minutes early.  Close but no cigar!

When walking into the theater, I was greeted by a FULL HOUSE.  Oh there was room, in the first 3 rows- which you know were never meant to be used because there’s an aisle separating them from the rest of the seats.  I wonder why they do this and don’t put more seats there?

It’s like “Hey we know the first 3 rows are going to be horrible so let’s just push them down even more so there’s room for a walk-way.”

And it’s even worse if you’re at the IMAX version.  You can SEE the pixels on the screen! They are the size of coconuts!

Long story short we left. AMC was clever and got us into the non-IMAX (but still 3D) showing 10 minutes later.  They even gave me a cash refund of the differences in ticket prices. (Good job guys!)

So the movie was awesome. I could write for eons about it, but the topic of this post is not the movie itself but the technology: 3D.

The emerging trend was slapping me in the face, literally. A preview for Alice in Wonderland was our appetizer prior to the movie.  From the way text floated at different levels to the depth observed in even the simplest of scenes, 3D added a quality my eyes enjoyed.

But 3D is not new.  It’s been around since 1890, but the high production costs and lack of standardization kept it a fun niche.

Times are changing- and to be quite honest, with Avatar already out, the trend is well on it’s way.  I’m not one of the first to smell the smoke, rather, I just happened to wake up to the trend fire alarm.  From Google Goggles to super gaming environments, projects are underway.  Technology has caught up.

My (future) grandchildren will be shocked that I actually watched movies in 2D.

So knowing where we are with 3D development gives us a firm foundation to look into the future.  The first consumer 3D camcorder will be out soon and at $22,000.  This is the modern equivalent of the first desktop computer.  For a while, those with surplus will own it and rapidly soon there after, it will be a VCR.

Why stop/start with camcorder, there’s also:

• Digital Cameras
• Picture frames
• Company logo signs
• Maps / Museum guide spheres
• TV
• iphones / mobile
• Pop-up digital books.
• More more more more!

I predict a stage of infancy- much like the Palm Pilot. A clever idea with usability and fundamental flaws.  There will be skepticism, resistance, acceptance, financial analysis, and bubbles.

The end result will be a cultural change brought about by a technical revolution.

As 2009 draws to a close, the social web is abuzz with predictions and reflections.  I had a fun conversation with Doug Haslam about 2020 predictions.  Rather than go with the flow of 2010 foresight, I challenge him to predict 2020.  His great response was: “Flying cars! Automated homes! Robot maids!”

To me it seems over-done to predict 2010 as it was a big trend on Twitter and Blogs recently.  There is, however, a set of predictions publicized by Fred Wilson on the importance of three elements in the future called the Golden Triangle:

The three current big megatrends in the web/tech sector are mobile, social, and real-time.

There is an excellent post by Brian Solis on how these 3 areas intersect.

This brings me to the subject of this post, family.  I’m writing from my folk’s place in Washington state, just south east of Seattle.  It’s a little overcast today, but I was able to catch a glimpse of my old friend Mt Rainier yesterday.

Without a doubt, 2009 has been one of the most instructional years of my life.  I’ve refined my broad interests into a wildly progressing career in Online Marketing, adopted and utilized social media to connect and share information at a rapidly new pace, and I’ve grown in my own type of Golden Triangle: spiritually, personally, and professionally.

It wasn’t until I was nestled away in WA, surrounded by the love and warmth of family, that I’ve been reminded the importance of family.  The speed of life increases and we’re more likely to forget to call on our family than to tweet what we had for dinner.  Sure 140 characters is easier than a phone call, but far less rewarding.

In the World of Social Media, it’s far too easy to forget and neglect those who haven’t fully adopted the tools we use daily.

My parents are on Facebook and it has helped keep us in touch- or at least informed.  There’s a marked difference between those concepts too.  Knowing the latest highlights in someone’s life is great, but it’s like reading their personal newspaper.  Without a conversation, you might as well be reading about the latest happenings at the White House.

My grandmother doesn’t use Twitter, so I don’t follow or @ reply her.  Social Media empowers adopters to converse, but I’ve been reminded to not let this be an excuse to not connect with everyone I care about.

I lot of the tools and concepts I blog about on Waterski The Web revolve around the concept of keeping you informed about what you care about.  I should expand this to “who” you care about too!

In conclusion, my thought going forward for 2010, is to remember that family, whether they are on Twitter or not, are important.  Even as Social Media becomes the ‘norm’ we must not forget to reach out and have a conversation, on or offline, with those that we care about.