NEXT Berlin 2012 - liveblogs

Ah, I love NEXT. Unlike many tech-based conferences, which are very rooted in the now, they have a remarkable knack of looking about two years into the future, and giving you a sense of what the world might look like then. I’ve been working with them since January, and it’s one of the pieces of work I enjoy the most. Here’s all the liveblogging I did for them earlier in the month:

Day One

• The Future of the Network and the History of the Computer – two keynotes that kicked off the conference, with René Obermann of Deutsche Telecom talking about a more open future for mobile networks, and George Dyson showing how the past of computing might point its way to the future.
• Towards the internet of things – four talks about the emerging world of networked smart objects
• Designing Digital Services by Putting People First – a great talk for agencies and product managers by Lousia Heinrich of Fjord, about human-centric success
• Making Books into a shareable experience – Henrik Berggren of Readmill has ideas of how to make eBooks more networked.
• Hacker kids, Maker culture and Wired clothing – my personal favourite session of the first day. It felt like a glimpse into the culture of five years hence – or what talking to the Homebrew Computer Club must have been like.
• TV to come , TV to go – a panel looking at visions of Future TV.
• The startup pitch winners

Day Two

• The velocity of digital business – Ajaz Ahmed and James Hilton of AKQA with a vision of doing great work in a digital age
• Give the teddy bears WiFi – Russell Davies’ grab-bag talk of ideas from the future
• Selling fashion online and printed clothes – a weird mix of pragmatic advice about selling clothes online – and whole new ways of creating clothes, including 3D printed bikinis!
• Three views of the future of media – always connected consumers, updating eBooks and the psychology of publishing
• Dave Weinberger & the future of everything – not a children’s adventure novel, whatever the title makes it sound like. 😉 Mr Weinberger takes us on a gallop through the likely consequences of the networked world.
• James Bridle: Moving beyond the fanfics of technology and place – a brain-stretching journey through the cultural consequences for places and ideas of mash-up culture

Videos of all the sessions are flowing onto the site now. Loads of juicy brain food for you there!