In this episode of The Digital Life, we discuss the Jeep auto hack in which cybersecurity researchers were able to remotely take control of a car’s critical systems, the subsequent 1.4M vehicle recall by Chrysler, and the new bill introduced by Senators Ed Markey (Dem – Massachusetts) and Richard Blumenthal (Dem – Connecticut) to protect automobiles from cyberattacks. Are security and privacy the defining issues for the Internet of Things? Unfortunately, it seems like this incident may be the first of many examples of hacking the IoT and connected environments.

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Hackers Remotely Kill a Jeep on the Highway—With Me in It
After Jeep Hack, Chrysler Recalls 1.4M Vehicles for Bug Fix
Senate Bill Seeks Standards For Cars’ Defenses From Hackers

In this episode of The Digital Life, we chat with special guest Suzanne Livingston, senior product manager for IBM’s enterprise social software platform, about the “consumerization” of enterprise software and the bring-your-own-device trend.

This is a unique time for the enterprise, as software eats the world. Product managers need to keep in mind a variety of factors as they consider the ongoing “consumerization” of enterprise software from user experience to security to productivity. How are enterprise software vendors responding to the trend of employees bringing their own mobile devices into the work environment? Has the time come when enterprise software needs to be “mobile first” in its UX strategy? Are successful upstarts like Trello, Box, Slack indicative of the way enterprise software needs to go? We examine all of these questions and more as we consider the the migration of enterprise software to a “consumerized” paradigm.

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IBM
IBM enterprise social software
Trello
Box
Slack
Why Software is Eating the World by Marc Andreessen

In this episode of The Digital Life we chat about about digital automation, innovation, and its effects on the economics of the American middle class.

Is the growing contractor economy, as typified by Uber, another signal that the middle class is in real trouble? As a part of her campaign rhetoric, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential frontrunner, is making some hay of the topic. But the concern is very much a real one. The need for meaningful work is an essential one for humanity, and one that increasingly is falling prey to technological change.

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Hillary Clinton vs. The Uber Economy

A Sneak Preview of Hillarynomics

Uber

In this episode of The Digital Life we chat about streaming television, cord cutting, and the future of the medium.

2015 has been a big year for streaming TV, with HBO NOW making its debut, Sling TV (from Dish) launching, and Netflix stock roaring. In fact, next week Netflix stock — currently trading around $650 — will split 7 times. Technology and increasing bandwidth has acted as the facilitator to streaming TV’s rise, which is now effectively built into the infrastructure of our lives. Users can access their shows anywhere, consuming them on any device containing a screen — from mobile phone to tablet, to computer, to smart television.

And the audience has an even greater stake in determining what shows survive and thrive; Netflix and Amazon are using in-depth customer data to make decisions about what original shows they make. The end result of all this is (mostly) high-quality new television series and a golden age of storytelling. But ongoing audience splintering is a real concern, and while ordering just what you want may be perfect for some, for others the paradox of choice is getting even harder to manage.

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Netflix

Netflix stock splits

HBONOW

Sling TV

In this episode of The Digital Life, we discuss rapid prototyping, the coming hardware renaissance and the Internet of Things with Technical Machine co-founder, Jon McKay.

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Tessel 2

Kickstarter

Tindie Biz

Arduino

Raspberry Pi