In 1989 he wrote the "End of History" to proclaim the ultimate victory of the western idea of free markets and free minds.  His conclusion was that with the end of the cold war, no other system could stand in the way of the west's ultimate victory.  We are headed towards a world of democratic states with free markets, a single homogenous model of how to organize society, shorn of the Hegelian dialectic.  How right he was (the current situation in the ME doesn't represent real competition). 

In 1995, he published "Trust", a book about the origins of group formation for economic purposes (given that we all increasingly live in a homogenous state -- see above). He wrote this book just as the online world was exploding, and there were questions as to whether communities online could challenge the geographic state (offline) for dominance.  People asked: Would the state melt away?  The linch pin to this: could these communities generate the wealth necessary to challenge state power by creating economic trust relationships? His conclusion:  No, economic trust relationships are tightly tied to cultural and social trust relationships in large part based to geography.  How true this conclusion proved to be.

His newest book, "Our Posthuman Future" looks at the world of biotech and its capacity to change our assumptions on the nature of man.  His conclusion:  biotech is bad because it will alter our fundamental human nature by eliminating genetic determinism.  His reviewer writes:  >>>The longest section of the book, and the most interesting, explores the question of whether there exists a human nature that these technologies can be said to violate. If human beings are infinitely plastic, with no fixed essence, then whatever we do to alter ourselves will not offend any preset natural order, and will not infringe the moral rights that supposedly flow from our nature. Fukuyama defines human nature in these words: ''human nature is the sum of the behavior and characteristics that are typical of the human species, arising from genetic rather than environmental factors.''<<<  To stop this change in fundamental human nature, he advocates that the government should shut down most forms of biotech in order to prevent fragmentation.  

Fukuyama's conclusions on this topic are dead wrong.  The path to further growth and experimentation, in a world populated by homogenous states, is through experimentation with enhancements (biotech, info tech, and nanotech) at the level of the individual.  It is unstoppable.

Granted, I understand his fear.  Fukuyama is a social philosopher. He thinks that rapid enhancements to individuals will throw the current social structure into chaos.  He reasons:  How can there be geographically local social structures when the people that participate in those structures are fundamentally different?

He is right, we will see fragmentation of existing social sub structures due to these new technologies, but that fragmentation is the path to growth.  A path to more complex human substrate that will organize along new lines. His mission should have been to find those factors that will drive the development of the new nodal point rather than to step back in disgust.  There are common factors that won't change as genetic determinism melts away. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
7:47:53 PM    comment   

>>>Let's break V.O.D. into three categories, all of which we will make available to all digital customers. Level one is movies and impulse events on demand. You push the button, you get a product, you pay for the individual transaction.

Level two is subscription video on demand. The best example of that is HBO. You buy HBO with the S.V.O.D. feature, and you get any episode of "Sex and the City" or "The Sopranos" anytime you want. You get to pull up HBO movies anytime you want them.

But the newest idea, and the one that I'm most excited about, is a third level of free video on demand. Why don't we go to CBS or ABC or NBC, and say, "Would you like your local or national newscast to be available anytime the consumer wants it after the original broadcast [~] and leave the commercials in. Why not give it a shelf life for the rest of the day? If I'm "60 Minutes" or "NBC Nightly News," why don't I want people to have more access to the show? I've already made it. All my costs are fixed. This way I get more people to watch the ads.<<<

There is also a method called multiplexing a channel, which from what I understand is merely a reshuffling of programming to make a channel appeal to different audiences. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
7:35:54 PM    comment   

Add Wi-Fi to your TiVo: a card, some instructions, and then cut the cord [via David Sifry]

7:05:39 PM    comment   

How far in the future is the cashless city? Well, if you look hard enough, you can already catch the odd glimpse of it.
6:09:59 PM    comment   

Nokia announces hot spot tailored access point: paintable exterior, internal antennas, and power over Ethernet (PoE) all combine to make this unit appeal to the public-space owners aesthetic, financial, and technical needs. Ships in June 2002. No price noted.

5:36:39 PM    comment   

BT Cellnet's Dutch subsidiary, Telfort Mobiel, is now focusing on marketing and management of its wireless customer base, letting Sweden's Ericsson handle the business of running the complex technology.

"The network is not our core business, but core to our business," says Mr. Ton aan de Stegge, CEO of Telfort.
12:04:48 PM    comment