Kodak Trend, Metal Friend & Like The Internet 📷

Piaggio, the Italian scooter giant and creator of the Vespa, invested in a Boston startup called FastForward, giving birth to the Gita project. According to CEO Greg Lynn, the idea was to create a robot that assists humans like a friend rather than try to replace them completely. But Gitamini wasn’t just designed to pack boxes, pick oranges or carry your water bottle when jogging. 

It has a more straightforward mission: to forestall short car trips. Be it running to the laundromat, the pharmacy or the grocery store to buy milk, Americans make nearly four such trips per day on average, according to government statistics. 35% of them are less than two miles. Imagine the carbon emissions and gas costs. The Gita “follow” robot aims to replace driving for Americans’ quickest daily errands.

But progress has been slow. Mostly because Gita costs $1850.

In the mere 2 months of its existence, ChatGPT has also excited several investors in the tech industry. Microsoft, for one, is rumored to make a $10 billion investment in OpenAI on top of an earlier $1 billion commitment. 

The terms of Microsoft’s potential new investment are unclear but, according to Semafor, the larger company could receive 75% of OpenAI’s profits until the investment is repaid. It would then retain a 49% stake, with other investors owning another 49%, and OpenAI’s parent holding only 2%.

The interesting point to note here is that ChatGPT hasn’t made any sustainable paths to profits/revenues yet. To quote from Shark Tank, “It’s too early to invest in.”

Then why are tech giants and entrepreneurs alike so excited about this software? 

Some popular theories: 

• ChatGPT has the potential to disrupt the long-standing dominance of Google and other tech giants, by allowing small companies to outcompete much larger competitors. 
• Many VCs and entrepreneurs that the technology behind the bot will pay out in a big way. OpenAI’s technology is at the heart of a swell of interest in so-called generative AI, a term encompassing algorithms that can generate text, images, or other data.
• Some people have likened the software to the early days of the internet, which evidently has transformed every aspect of human life in a colossal way. People want to hop on the wagon before it catches full speed. 
• Another popular and interesting theory is that the bot could transform web search.

Remember when walking to school with the latest iPod or the funky Motorola flip phone made you the “cool kid” in school? Well, not anymore.

Today’s teenagers are ditching swanky iPhones and modern tech for phones and cameras from the early 2000s, per the The New York Times.

Reasons:

• They can take photos without being on their cell phones.
• They get space from social media, which 36% of teens say they use too much.

In fact, EBay searches for “digital camera” increased 10% from 2021 to 2022. “Nikon COOLPIX,” for example, saw a 90% jump. Camera lines like the Canon Powershot and Kodak EasyShare are popping up at parties and other social events.

This seems odd since older digital cameras capture less detail and produce lower-quality photos. But apparently, blurry, vintage-looking photos are exactly what Gen Z wants to stand out from the crowd — and, ironically, to stand out on Instagram.

On TikTok, teenagers and young adults are now explaining how to achieve a new aesthetic using 20 year old cameras.