Rohit Bhargava's Blog, page 70

Why Millennials Hate The Doorbell

When you ask Millennials to describe the doorbell, a surprising number use phrases like “panic-inducing,” “hateful” and “terrifying.” Sound overblown? It turns out many millennials see the doorbell as an unwanted intrusion much like a phone call during dinner from an 800 number. Friends or family don’t show up unannounced and ring the doorbell. They send a text or Whatsapp message. As author Jean Twinge explores in The Atlantic this week, this reliance on smartphones may bring the unintended...

Japan’s Hottest Wedding Photo Trend: Couples Sealed In Airtight Plastic

Nothing says forever like getting vacuum sealed in plastic to be photographed with your newly beloved. Tokyo-based photographer Haruhiko Kawaguchi describes his quirky portrait idea as “a way for people to express how close and in love they are. ” At the end of the day, everyone wants to have that unforgettable wedding photo so there is clearly a market for this. And yes, in case you were wondering, the couples are actually sealed in plastic for the shoot. Which is sort of the perfect analogy...

Two Women Create Fake Male Co-Founder For Startup To Avoid Sexism

To combat early sexism, the co-Founders of ecommerce art site Witchsy invented a fake co-founder aptly named Keith Mann and started communicating with developers and partners through his virtual personality. To their surprise, the ruse was sadly successful. Keith would often be treated with far more respect by men and women in the tech industry alike. The story should inspire all of us to consider the bias we might have when emailing or communicating virtually with people who we assume to be...

Canada Offers Third Gender Option Of “Intersex” For Passports

On August 24th the Canadian government approved a provisional measure to allow individuals who identify as neither male nor female to select a gender neutral “intersex” option on official documents. While the US government continues to head in the opposite direction by reducing gender inclusiveness, in Canada this measure will already take effect as of August 31 – just a week after it was approved. Now they just need every country’s visa and immigration form to be updated to offer that same t...

Cursive Writing Is Making A Comeback. And It Might Make You Smarter.

While it may seem nostalgic, a growing number of schools are going back to teaching cursive to children thanks to growing evidence that writing by hand improves unaided memory, retention and may even help improve IQ. As one researcher noted, “we found that children until about grade six were writing more words, writing faster, and expressing more ideas if they could use handwriting—printing or cursive—than if they used the keyboard.” It seems writing in cursive is a skill we may have too hast...

An Inside Look At The First Robotic Microapartment Design

As apartments get smaller and urban areas get more crowded, real estate companies and residents themselves will look for more creative ways to use limited space. A new robotic “microapartment” hitting the market now may offer an interesting solution focused on creating a living space smart enough to adapt at the touch of a button to the situation whether its time for bed or having a few friends over to watch a game on TV. As these sorts of pilot projects gain popularity, this use of technolog...

Why The NFL’s Newest Stadium Will Have $2 Hot Dogs and $5 Beer

In a league often defined by greed, with unscrupulous owners who are sometimes hated by their entire fan populations (like Daniel Snyder of the Redskins), it may come as a surprise that there are some who do care about more than the bottom line. Instead of requiring vendors to buy expensive sponsorships and then subsidize them with insane prices, Falcons President Rich Mckay lets vendors charge what they would on the street – making his new stadium the lowest priced for food in the NFL and ho...

Are Millennials Really Killing Harley Davidson?

Millennials are being blamed for the recent woes of casual dining restaurants like Buffalo Wild Wings and Applebees and even more established brands like Harley Davidson – but is that really fair? This article looks at some of the reasons why the revered motorcycle brand may be suffering and whether the brand is actually failing to appeal to younger consumers, or whether the shift toward automated transportation is to blame instead.

Read the full story on Brand Channel >

Love non-obvious stor...

How A Small Food Tour Explains Arab Culture In Michigan

Five years ago, Devon Akmon, director of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan was inspired by a food tour experience to create something similar to help outsiders understand the Arab culture through food. His program called Yalla Eats! has been running since then and offers a chance to get something anyone who has ever shopped in an ethnic grocery store has likely wished for … a personal tour through unfamiliar food. Cuisine can bring cultures together. This was a perfect e...

Uber Releases Its Original Pitch Deck From 2008

Despite their recent troubles and exit of embattled CEO Travis Kalanick – the rise of Uber is one of the undeniable success stories from Silicon Valley. This week co-founder Garrett Camp shared the original Uber pitch deck from when the company was just a concept seeking funding. Although it is just 25 poorly designed, the presentation delivers the most important points and passes the test for simplicity both in terms of the idea but also in terms of what they are asking for.

Read the full st...