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Great post! I am really interested to see where the wearable tech industry, including smartwatches, goes over the next decade! I think watches will only be one part of the smart connected products that we begin to wear on a daily basis, and as their abilities advance, we will rely on their capabilities more and more!

On March 4, 2019, MDB commented on Hi, my name is C-3PO. How can I assist you today? :

Great post! You presented so much information that I hadn’t even considered. The broader discussion around automation’s impact on the workforce will definitely be something to watch in every industry over the next decade. Though it is hard to resist when the automated alternative is so much more cost effective and efficient than the human counterpart.

Great post! Zillow was essential to my recent (well, currently ongoing) home buying process! It will be interesting to see how the space evolves over the next few years with competitors such as Redfin and others. While Zillow helped us find the home we liked, we didn’t feel Zillow offered the necessary services for us to continue the transaction through them.

On February 24, 2019, MDB commented on Fitbit Care: Making Health a Platform :

Great post! To your initial point, I am really curious to see where the healthcare industry will go – especially given the connected world that is developing. There are a ton of players in the fitness world that are gathering data, and I could definitely see them heading in a similar direction as Fitbit Care, except for maybe an enterprise-only platform. I agree with you that a device without a platform and ecosystem to back it is not as powerful as a device on its own, but I worry about potential pricing implications for health insurance providers who experiment with price individualization based upon data being gathered via the device and potentially used to either help (or hurt) that individual’s insurance premium. It is great to see a company such as Fitbit leading the way and learning the best way to promote healthy lifestyles and choices – ultimately decreasing health care expenses.

On February 24, 2019, MDB commented on Strava: Out Running the Competition? :

What a great platform! But it looks like Jose beat me to the punch…as with any platform such as Strava, that shares positional data of its users, there needs to be additional education to the users about what the potential side-effects are. However, I do not feel this is solely Strava’s responsibility. In the case of the data being used to show potential locations of military bases, this highlights the risk of what can be revealed when data that appears to be harmless is put together with other user’s data. The security implication doesn’t apply only to military bases, but also the average user. As people post data over time, a nefarious actor could easily develop a pattern of life for a user and pursue less than honorable intentions.

On February 24, 2019, MDB commented on Kaggle: Building a Market for Data Science (and Scientists) :

Great post, Walter! Kaggle sounds like a great platform for beginners to gain exposure and enhance their skills while also offering smaller start-ups the ability to access a broader set of knowledge workers. This made me think a lot about the ZBJ case as well. Maren’s point regarding the IP rights and the potential secondary side-effect of data scientists self-selecting out of the system or not excepting a winner’s prize because they do not want to relinquish their IP rights. I’d also be curious to see how long the average participant remains involved with the site and if any of the submissions have led to longer-term service agreements or formal job offerings.