Weekend Digest: Technology And Innovation In America

For our weekend business readers:

HAS TECHNOLOGY IN AMERICA PLATEAUED?
That’s the basis of an online post by The American that explores whether the technology boom that began in the early 80’s has peaked.

Apple went public in December 1980, before today’s 50 million millennials were born. And there followed the longest run of economic growth in modern history, spanning five presidencies from Reagan through Clinton.

Apple grew to become the world’s largest market cap company and a tech icon.

That was then. This is now. According to today’s techno-pessimists, nothing like that can happen again.

But are the “techo-pessimists” wrong, and if so why?  And if they are right, can America keep up the frenzied pace of the past decades or is another country primed to take over?

Click here to read more.

THE TEN MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES IN AMERICA
Forbes has compiled a list of companies that possess perhaps the key ingredient to succeed in a business climate that is fluid an ever-changing.

The most innovative companies in America are diverse, hailing from both coasts and leading in industries ranging from open source software to health care.

What all ten share is a desire to keep evolving, often after already setting industry standards. Inside these headquarters, innovation is anything but passive.

Click here to learn which companies Forbes thinks are the most innovative and also find out what their world rankings are.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE MIDDLE CLASS IN AMERICA?
That’s a huge and very intriguing question offered by CNBC.

Not to reveal it here, but the answer is very simple, and there are other side-bar requirements according to the post that help seal the deal from a survey released late last month of 2,000-plus Americans polled by the Pew Research Center.

And it’s not what you might think.

Owning a home was considered a sign of membership in the middle class by only 45 percent of those surveyed. Having stocks or bonds rated for only 28 percent.

Get the results of the survey and its implications by clicking here.

HOW ABOUT A BEER AT A COLLEGE FOOTBALL STADIUM?
Unheard of in the past and against the norms of most legislatures who oversee such things, West Virginia University made the change.  Sure there were financial gains, but it goes a lot further than that.

Now, the issue of alcohol abuse is complicated and not something to make light of. It’s a major problem on college campuses and elsewhere and the idea of making more alcohol available in more places may strike some people as ridiculous.

But what may work about this approach: When you’ve got a problem, you can stick your head in the sand or you can acknowledge the problem exists and try to come up with a new kind of solution.

Find out what those solutions were, what other schools are following suit, and how West Virginia eliminated the “pass-out” problem by tipping this link.

ROBOT FASTER THAN THE OLYMPIC CHAMPION?
Yikes! Stand aside Usain Bolt.

A 4-legged machine can outrun you and it’s called “Cheetah.”

Designers behind the robot hope to see Cheetah max out at speeds as fast as 70 miles-per-hour.

Find out who designed this amazing machine and what its various uses may be by speeding to this link.

GADGET LOVERS’ DREAM SEASON HAS ARRIVED
Normally, you think of September and fall as a new car buyers time to decide on the latest models. But move over Volvo buyers, there’s another whole different line that comes out this time of year.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, at least for gadget hounds. September is packed with events where consumer-electronics giants plan to unveil new, widely anticipated products.

Find out what wonderful new products are coming out and the anticipated release dates by punching up this link.