But Wait, That’s Not All! The Minsky Award 2020 Goes To …

One thing swayed my decision to move forward this yearamp160the universal belief that 2020 was the apex year of digital transformation Not only has the pandemic accelerated digital adoption and usage but we were able to have a functioning economy thanks to technology albeit with a lot of pain for a lot of people Yes there is a ton of suffering but just imagine how even more disconnected and how much worse it would have been and would continue to be without the technology to keep us together to keep the supply chain going and to keep our children educated even when they couldn39t be physically togetherI started this quotbragging rights onlyquotamp160award in December of 2013 on my Facebook wall just for shits and giggles Since then it has become the most highly anticipated announcement of the year with maybe the exception of the Nobel Prize Ok so that hasn39t happened But every year it does generate some of the highest numbers of comments of my Facebook or LinkedIn posts The award name is not as narcissistic as it sounds It39s an homage to my beloved grandfather Abe Minsky zquotl who set my career in technology and marketing in motion when he gifted me an Apple II computer for my Bar MitzvahThe criteria for the award is fairly straightforward It has to be something that is a game changer It should be something that has high utility and that will likely be part of our collective lives at scale in the foreseeable future It has to be accessible and not a beta product or right out of Kickstarter Most importantly it has to bring us closer to a vision of a digital futureIn 2020 we were reminded that no matter how cool our technology can be and how bright innovation can shine it is still all about the basic necessities of life Regardless of how excited you may have been about the latest iteration of AirPods Google Hubsamp160or Amazon Echos it was toilet paper paper towels soap napkins hand sanitizer and disinfectants that matteredWe have also been given a huge wakeup call on the importance of friends familyamp160and social engagement with others The Canadian writer and urbanistamp160Charles Montgomery writes quotAs much as we complain about other people there is nothing worse for mental health than a social desertquot This year has strained our mental health but thanks in small part to this year39s winner we haven39t brokenThe winner of this year39s Minsky Award for Tech Innovation for the first time since I39ve been doing this is not a hardware product There were a few contenders in that space but they were all iterativeamp160The Oculus Quest 2 the sequel to last year39s winner is most definitely a step up in visual quality and design but not nearly enough to warrant a second crown The Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are both contenders but I haven39t had the chance to get my hands on one and frankly as I believe this will be or should be the last set of consoles it39s more of a coda than a breakthrough The Apple AirPods Max might have been a consideration if I was willing to miss a car payment I wasn39t 5G phones could one day pick up the prize but 2021 and 2022 will be the years of 5G so let39s not get ahead of ourselves New versions of Amazon Echo and Google Home look and sound better but again iterativeThis year in technology it was the apps that brought it In a year whenamp160we craved escape and distraction we had more than enough options TikTok Disney HBO Max Peacock Apple TV Twitch Snap a case could be made as to why each of these could and should be this year39s winner But none of themamp160had the social impact and benefit of the ultimate winnerAnd the winner is Zoom In a matter of weeks this video chat app went from a nondescript eightyearold app to a verb and brought us finally into the age of The Jetsons which for many Boomers and Gen Xers has been the North Star of technology along with Star Trek Until this year and Zoom the idea of an everyman like George Jetson conducting business with his boss Cosmo Spacely was fiction Yes we39ve had Facetime and other video chat apps but it was never socially acceptable nor practical to conduct most of your worklife on a screen That has all changed now and it will never go back fully to the way it wasZoom kept us as closely together as we could safely be It forced older generations to hop on the video chat train but in a way that mostly they could understand after explaining to your parents on how to position a camera so you weren39t staring at ceilings It also spurred extremely creative ways of bringing us together whether it was quotZoom drinksquot or quotZoom conferencesquot or even bringing extended families together for Zoom graduations weddings confirmations or just family reunions It spurred contests for best Zoom filters or coolest Zoom backgrounds Zoom kept us from Montgomery39s social desertBut Wait That39s Not All How has last year39s winner been faringLast year the Oculus Quest the first standalone sixdegreesoffreedom VR headset was crowned winner of The Minsky I cannot stress how the Quest personally saved my spirit throughout the early part of the pandemic While many of you including my oldest daughter were fiddling around with sourdough recipes thank you Maya I was exploring the outer edge of black holes taking walks on a different beach every night having deep conversations in Bigscreen with fellow avatars about real social issues fighting zombies to get out my aggression watching SpaceX launches on giant IMAX screens with hundreds of fellow space enthusiasts and playing Beat Saber with friends and family across the globe No it is not the same thing as true inperson prepandemic life But it is a way for a few moments each day to escape or to connect with fellow VR enthusiastsA year ago the Quest sold out all available inventory during the Q4 Holiday season Then the pandemic hit China and headsets throughout Q1 were impossible to get By April the supply was backamp160Facebook released the Oculus Quest 2 more powerful and less expensive in September During Facebook39s last quarterly earnings call Mark Zuckerberg announced that Quest preorder sales were 5x that of the original Quest In fact the Quest 2 has sold out this holiday season Reviews were very positiveVirtual Reality is here It is not yet at consumer scale but it does appear to be heading in that direction and it is time for brands and agencies to take noticeClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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But Wait, That’s Not All! The Minsky Award 2020 Goes To …

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